


astronomy

by SUNNYONG



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Johnjaeyong are bffs, Just read it I promise it's good, Lowercase, M/M, More angst, Multi, Sicheng's an astronomy boy, Some break-ups, Some humor ??, Taeyong's a lover boy, Winkun are Rich bois, Winkun are bffs, i really don't know what i'm tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-01-05 05:42:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 34,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18359774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SUNNYONG/pseuds/SUNNYONG
Summary: sicheng didn't want to interrupt anyone's relationship, he just wants to learn the emotion of love. taeyong volunteers to teach sicheng how to love, in exchange of sicheng teaching him astronomy. but did i mention, taeyong is already in deep love with jaehyun ? what will happen when sicheng finally learns how to love but falls in love with taeyong and what will happen when taeyong finally learns astronomy but considers sicheng his only star ?( in which — sicheng teaches taeyong astronomy and taeyong teaches sicheng how to love. )





	1. Chapter 1

taeyong entered the university campus, just like every day and it wasn't a wonder to the pink haired boy when all the fellow pupils of the college came to address the kingka of seoul's most prestigious art college, seoul arts college for youth. the college surpassed all the other colleges, and it was a whole new world to taeyong and his enthusiasm for dance and rap. taeyong's feet entered the rather quixotic institute, and everyone saw his brown eyes twinkle as he looked around the campus and everyone admired the man for his absolute love for what he actually took sincerely. "sir taeyong, what would you like your baby boy to do for you?" a very familiar voice makes taeyong snicker as he turns to the owner of the deep voice.

 

"johnny, fuck off. i'm not dating you, and will never-" taeyong halts as if his eyes are looking for someone else, waiting for someone else to be in front of him. "he's in the vocal training room, go retrieve him." johnny consciously notifies as he smiles as he sees taeyong's face just glow up. taeyong was johnny's everything, his best friend, his buddy, his family and johnny would do anything to let that innocent smile linger on his face ceaselessly. taeyong clatters his way through the crowd of classmates, just to reach out to his precious, to embrace him and chant poems of love to him. taeyong yearned to let him know that there was no one his heart belonged to and will never because taeyong vowed to himself that he would never let him be the cause of someone's tears before he set off his journey to see the whole world and reveal his dreams to him, step by step.

 

he didn't let his feet stop till they took him to the training room, and once they did stop, taeyong saw the room right in front of his eyes. he lifted his brawny arm to push over the door, but instantly paused when he heard something, someone distinctive.  _it was not his jaehyun._

 

but taeyong stood there, desiring to hear the stranger's singing skills, rivaling them with his jaehyun's. the longer taeyong stood there, the less he repented his choice of sojourning there. the male voice behind the entrance was so rich and pleasing, it was as smooth as the golden nectar, just as clear as the crystalline diamonds taeyong treasured. taeyong discerned that the male's vocal range was really wide, and any bass would go with his vocals. taeyong's foot tapped along with the unknown flow the man was singing at, and taeyong came to a recognition that the man had picked up a quicker pace, so by now he was rapping and taeyong was beyond impressed. as a man molded by rap, taeyong thought this guy just needed inadequate polishing in his rhythm and he'd shine as brilliant as a diamond.

 

taeyong was so into the rhythm and harmony that he left one particular overlooked, the man had finished his training. taeyong's head faced the ground as he attempted to freestyle with the remembered beat, and his hands behind his back and foot following up with taeyong's freestyle.  the pink haired boy suspended as he felt someone patting on his shoulder, and he glanced up to see an astonishingly handsome man, but taeyong couldn't identify him, keeping in consideration that taeyong knew every being in this institute due to his great civil skills.

 

taeyong faced a golden-haired angel -  _individual_ \- whose eyes just enthralled taeyong, beckoning him to study more behind the golden eyes. taeyong halted in his spot as the man abruptly made eye contact with him, loading up some type of euphoric sensation into taeyong's current emotionless figure. taeyong let the golden-haired scan him wholly, audaciously retaliating. a navy blue skintight full-sleeved shirt with black skinny jeans, his golden eyes concealed behind the gold-rimmed spectacles he wore that taeyong didn't regard earlier, but to assume the man in one word, taeyong would choose the word ' _expensive_.'

 

"i-i uh-" taeyong forced up his mouth, stuttering as he saw the man's perfect and plethoric red tinted lips curved into a little grin, which was somewhat unusual because lee taeyong never stammers. a small chortle ejects from the golden-haired boy, which sounded so sweet to taeyong that he just wanted to just-  _do something to the man_. "i'm a transfer student from china, dong sicheng." the golden-haired boy, now named sicheng, stretched his hand to let taeyong do the equal and as soon as their hands brushed, taeyong knew that they were going somewhere. rendering the gallant behavior, taeyong beamed as well, letting his pink lips flash sicheng his charming toothy smile. "i'm lee taeyong, nice to-"

 

and taeyong was discontinued by the bell, prompting sicheng to laugh again - and god, taeyong just desired to hear the man laugh and laugh because he sounded so lovely. "what's your first class, taeyong?" sicheng asked him, his accent really thick and he sounded a little verbose, which sicheng was- that is after months of preparation. and taeyong on the other hand quickly felt flushed and fuzzy after hearing sicheng call out his name, it was like taeyong's name was just for sicheng to call out daytime and night. taeyong gave sicheng a short smile before responding, "dance. what about you?"

 

sicheng's eyes lightened up when he apprehended taeyong and he shared the same class. "we can go together! come on, don't be late!" sicheng eagerly gets ready to race, continuing his arm so that taeyong can hold onto it and that's what taeyong did. and they both just raced like that, but taeyong does not enjoy agility and acceleration even a bit, and sicheng ran like his life depended on it. "sicheng, slow down!" taeyong accomplished to call, as he saw the hallways converging in a blur, and he started to feel a wee light-headed. sicheng somehow sensed it, and regulated down but not due to taeyong's light-headedness but because of someone barring their way. and of course, it was none other jung jaehyun, unquestionably piercing through sicheng but his gaze spontaneously stirred towards taeyong, who also appeared to regard his boyfriend.

 

taeyong just staggered off sicheng's hand,  _correction_ , forced sicheng's hand away from him - and ran to embrace jaehyun and placed a clumsy kiss on jaehyun's plump lips he yearned so much, even though they just met recently. sicheng just bought up his hand and saw it before glancing back at the pair. suppressing the discomfort at the back of his heart, sicheng broke out with his signature grin. sicheng saw the admiration the couple transferred just by seeing each other, just by grinning at each other, and sicheng assured himself that he'd get himself, someone, he can have times similar to what taeyong and the other man, whom he didn't know, shared.

 

not wanting to interfere in anything, sicheng discreetly made his way to his dance class, earning dubious looks from every pupil present. sicheng had his own atmosphere, his own incomparable vibe, his own distinctive way of walk, and all these agents fascinated the other students. "new, perhaps?" sicheng detects a sound from his back, as he turns around to face a man considerably smaller than him, but it was sufficient for the man to pull off a baby effect that sicheng found remarkably dainty. sicheng agreed adorably, as he bowed as he discovered from his tutors. it's all about respect over there, your best performance. sicheng could hear the words reverberate through his clouded subconscious, but instead of receiving the same bow in return, sicheng just heard the man chuckle. sicheng raised an eyebrow, and set his few books on the tables nearby, and turned around to the same man.

 

"a penny for your thoughts, sir?" sicheng doubled his arms, and just narrowed his gaze towards the smaller, who tried his best to repress his laughter. "n-no, you're just so appealing, it's really hilarious!" the shorter pulled sicheng's cheeks with sheer affection, as sicheng just rolled his eyes and huffed. "i'm ten, nice to meet you-"

 

"okay, class! hurry up and collect around me!" their dance professor, mrs. min, proclaimed and sicheng scampers over to the crowd but fails to remark that taeyong's now in class. "we have a transfer student from china, please be nice to him!" the teacher claps her hand twice, and sicheng takes this as a hint for him to stand in front of the whole class for introduction.  _breathe, head high, and a bright smile._ sicheng substantially heard his father's voice when sicheng had to introduce himself in a business conference he was visiting with his father at the age of four, and since then, sicheng's been really positive in his oral skills. with a gorgeous toothy grin on his gleaming face, sicheng took a deep breath and faced his audience. "hello, i'm dong sicheng and i'm a transfer student from china! i hope we all will be good companions in eventuality, and i look forward to socializing with you!"

 

sicheng felt positive enough, but once the audience applauded for the golden-haired boy, his chest was filled with contentment for himself. their dance instructor concurrently grinned along, picking up an interest for the chinese student. "okay, so as for the commencement of another beautiful year at this campus, the dance department proposed the idea of a lovely welcoming show!" the teacher familiarized the class, and not even two moments passed and everyone was busy whispering about the new affair planned. sicheng incompetently stood in the crowd, fiddling with his fingers as he quietly waited for the instructor to resume. meanwhile, taeyong stood at the other side of the room but never let his eyes leave the chinese man. sicheng was surely something and taeyong would really look forward to knowing the gentleman more.

 

"i'll be picking partners for this class, and you all will prepare something royal and prestigious, mirroring the institute's honor," the teacher continued with a courteous smile, "and it's not important for your routine to be similar to a ball dance or anything as such. think outside the box and let the inner royal in you reflect." sicheng held upon a soft smile because he knew that this routine wouldn't be tough for him, sicheng was nurtured and brought up as a perfect being and nothing less than a royal himself. the instructor started uttering some obscure names sicheng could care less about, and he was just lost in the thoughts of taeyong and the other man. they were dating and sicheng was sure about that, but what about the emotions sicheng read in taeyong's eyes when he looked at him? was it awe or reverence?

 

sicheng was perplexed, but he tried to shake off his pointless thoughts. it's your first day and you're already trapped in between your feelings, sicheng inwardly sighed and gave up on his complex thoughts. his grip on sanity was already really loose and he definitely didn't want a man to let him go of his sanity. and not to mention, taeyong was already taken. "and dong sicheng!" the teacher abruptly declares and sicheng speeds up to the center while facing the teacher, bewildered. the teacher lets out a small chuckle and points towards his right, sicheng's front. sicheng turns to his front, and an enchanting smile crawled up on his red lips. "your partner, lee taeyong."  


 

 **-**  


 

jaehyun nonchalantly fiddled with the plastic fork in his hand, more of, playing with the pasta on his plate. jaehyun appeared lost in thought, and johnny was being a really good buddy, so he thought of pretending like he was concerned. "jaehyun, what's up?" johnny waved his huge palm in front of jaehyun's face, which surprised the poor boy. jaehyun winced and threw his back on his chair, which caused his back muscles to throb. seizing his back to control the discomfort, jaehyun's legs hit the chair, and jaehyun tripped and was about to hit flat on the ground. johnny appeared upset as he heard the other boy yelp in agony but rushed to his aid. wrapping a firm arm around jaehyun's waist, johnny pulls jaehyun's body closer to him, saving the boy from falling down. the position from far really seemed intimate, jaehyun's arms around johnny's neck and johnny's arms around jaehyun's waist, both of them looking into each other's eyes, their hair somehow messed up.

 

if anyone wandered in at this moment, they'd think that johnny and jaehyun were making out, but before they both could even discern those circumstances, someone walked into the deserted cafeteria. it didn't take johnny two seconds to apprehend that someone walked in, and he pushed away jaehyun from him and turned around to see a very unknown face. jaehyun landed flat on his ass, and he left out a hiss, before looking up to the person because of whom he was in this position.

 

jaehyun's eyes fluttered to see the same golden-haired boy he saw earlier this morning -  _fuck, it's that guy who is friends with taeyong._  jaehyun had never panicked in his life like how he did that moment, he bolted right up and just shot sicheng a very apprehensive smile. "uh- you're new, right?" johnny stiffly muttered, which sicheng unmistakably heard and to which he excitedly responded. "yes! i'm dong sicheng and i'm a transfer student from china!"

 

johnny's heart utterly thrived at the chinese boy's smile, that johnny took a few steps forward to stretch his arm to the golden-haired. "i'm johnny suh, and that is jung jaehyun." johnny introduced, and sicheng turned to jaehyun, who was this close to actually pissing his pants. sicheng then flashed him the fraudulent smile, that even a blind person would know that it was fake just by the mood the smile had set. jaehyun certainly didn't give a fuck at that point, he just didn't want the sicheng guy to misinterpret the situation and go snitch about him to taeyong. "we should get going, sicheng! see you around!" johnny says and grasps jaehyun by his wrist, and pulls him up back up on his feet, but within jaehyun was ready to cry his heart out. johnny was doing everything to prove it to sicheng that they had something when in actuality they were the best of mates. but sicheng doesn't know that, which worries jaehyun a lot.

 

sicheng waves the two a warm goodbye, his lovely grin never leaving his face. and once the two were out beyond sicheng's vision, the chinese plopped onto one of the cafeteria chairs and deeply breathes. wasn't this jaehyun guy dating taeyong? or were they just really, really good friends? nah, scratch that. there was no way those two were just buddies. sicheng's thoughts were clouded with complicated thoughts, and on the other hand, taeyong was in the institute's dance practice room, dancing out his prepared routine. taeyong was really a swift learner, and a great detailer so him thinking about a routine this early was not a huge astonishment. taeyong was just anticipating for his partner to join him, and voilà! they'll be settled in no time.

 

taeyong was overjoyed, he habitually was considered for a solo routine but this time, he had an associate. which meant that sicheng was also an outstanding dancer, and taeyong could do nothing but wonder about how pleasant and lovely it would be to finally have a partner. jaehyun and johnny did not take up dance, as their semester and career plan focused on vocals and sketching, and they both were impeccable at it. taeyong had completely different career options, he had an everlasting passion for dance but slowly grew some sort of affinity towards rapping, which his teachers did not leave unnoticed and urged him to change his classes, but taeyong chose both, not completely wanting to give up one for the other.

 

the practice room was brilliantly lit, and the wooden planks made it easier for the dancers to smoothly drift over it. taeyong felt jaded sitting and idling for sicheng, so he decided to recommence his dancing, and danced to precisely nothing. taeyong just let himself free to wherever his thoughts carried him to, his delicate body floundering all over the practice room. taeyong soon came to the cognizance that he was dancing to the cadence of love, just chaste and genuine love. a faithful romanticist he was, he had really good knowledge about all varieties of love tales, and taeyong would just rant all his sentiments about love to jaehyun, and the younger would just listen to his boyfriend speak and would include a few smiles here and there.

 

jaehyun treasured the pink haired man and was ready to do anything for his satisfaction. and taeyong was just an innocent, young boy trying to live out his dreams. taeyong's face always crimsoned when his thoughts flew over to jaehyun, and taeyong had to pause to just recuperate from the lovely thoughts he had about his other one. "oh, i'm so sorry! i just ran into some fascinating people, and it just made me a little late!" a panting sicheng's husky voice reverberates through the room, substantially echoing making the man's voice sound even more satisfying. taeyong just looked up to the golden-haired, and gave him a petite smile before showing him a thumbs up.  "it's alright, chenggie. i've prepared our routine anyways, and i'm looking forward to showing it to you if you don't mind that is."

 

sicheng nearly choked on the nickname he'd just received, but immediately covered it with a flimsy cough and a dark hue of magenta tinting his cheeks. taeyong softly chuckled at how he got the boy agitated, but nevertheless, rushed to the center of the room to take his opening position. sicheng glimpsed at a small device placed onto a seat nearby, which sicheng later identified it as taeyong's mobile phone, and hurried to pick it up and saw a piano piece paused. sicheng looked up at taeyong for approval to press play, which taeyong allowed by giving him a short smile. and the moment the music commenced, taeyong did nothing but hypnotize sicheng by his elegant moves and wow, taeyong was so excellent at this. sicheng made sure to capture every one of his moves, in case taeyong asks him to redo the whole, and sicheng couldn't help but let his eyes unblushingly devour the whole sight in front of him.

 

 _sicheng, stop. he has a motherfucking boyfriend._  he recalled to himself and took his bottom lip under his teeth, biting them really hard to numb all the other useless sensations he felt. and thank the lord, taeyong had stopped right on the spot before anything undesired happened. with a pleasant smile on his face, taeyong beautifully bowed to finally put his little show to a wonderful end. sicheng just gazed at him in reverence and started applauding in order to express his admiration for the older. taeyong suddenly felt a little modest and humble in front of the taller, as he let his hand ruffle his own pink hair into a fluffy mess. "was it good-"

 

"it was  _phenomenal_ , yongie!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this will 100% suck because i do not proofread at all, so i apologize for all the grammatical errors and poor language skills.

sicheng sat frustrated in his art class, whirling his pencil around his slim forefinger, trying to think of what he could possibly sketch. he felt so unenterprising that he was actually considering to excuse himself from the class and go outdoor to seek for some motivation and perhaps, then sketch a beauty. but sicheng didn't need to execute plan a, because plan b came walking in class like a whole museum art piece himself. sicheng was not going to lie at all, but jaehyun was surely an aristocrat with excellent looks and behavior and maybe, sicheng hasn't quite seen the whole jaehyun to actually decipher his apprehensive and tensed behavior earlier that day.

 

jaehyun entered the classroom with a haste grin, which the teacher over-looked and told him to take his seat, which resulted to be close to sicheng and gave sicheng a good side profile of the man. jaehyun didn't seem to really notice his surroundings, and opened his sketchbook and unobtrusively started sketching without any interruptions or anything as such. sicheng kept on gazing at jaehyun, completely bewildered over his charm. sicheng made sure to take intermissions from his stare so that jaehyun wouldn't suspect anything wrong, or feel uncomfortable. sicheng's hand started to sketch some extraordinary outline but sicheng didn't quite take any particular interest to it and just let his hand freely travel around the parchment paper he was reckoned to sketch on. after getting a little used to jaehyun's visuals, sicheng glanced over to his whatever sketch and just burst out into a pleasant grin.

 

they really were right when they said that you draw what you think about or examine because sicheng found an imperfect but satisfactory outline of jaehyun's demeanor, him sketching some nonexclusive landscape whereas sicheng sketched the actual artwork himself. there was only attraction rather than feeling sicheng felt towards jaehyun, unlike taeyong because when sicheng is with taeyong, he can feel that light sparkle. time raced as usual and class time was over, but sicheng just sat there, wanting to finish the whole portraiture. jaehyun got up from his bench, assembling his respective items and some instinct of his told him to turn behind, which he did and almost spontaneously grieved. his least favorite view of them all —  _dong fucking sicheng._

 

not that jaehyun resented the boy — but jaehyun resented the boy. sicheng reflected some bad but really good vibes, and jaehyun wasn't having it because jaehyun was a man with his own vanity and would snap at anyone whom he thought was greater than him or someone he deemed worthy of his foul remarks, and in this situation, jaehyun conceded the first. but that was definitely not today because sicheng also had something against him, which he planned on clearing right then and finish off the matter. he struts over to the back where the chinese man sat and crosses his fingers that he doesn't have to encounter something uneventful or destitute with sicheng. jaehyun watches the whole class filter out of the art room, and to their respective pairs or friends to walk back home but seeing sicheng so focused in his work and how he didn't let time decide whether he should stop, which made jaehyun esteem him in his own way and behavior.

 

jaehyun tenderly taps sicheng's shoulder, but received nothing but just a simple, deep-toned hum which ran down shivers jaehyun's backbone, if he was not to lie. "sicheng, look —" jaehyun began, not caring that sicheng wasn't really hearing but it seemed like sicheng identified jaehyun immediately and piped up really swift. he tossed away the standard lead pencil he held and instantly held —  _no, jostled_  — the sketch up jaehyun's face. not foreseeing this sudden attack, jaehyun intuitively recoiled away from the drawing but soon reacquired his senses. disremembering his previous statements he had pre-planned in his head, jaehyun gave this simple sketch his inclination. jaehyun seized the book from sicheng's hand, earning some weird giggle from sicheng but jaehyun found it adorable — heck,  _everything_ the boy did was adorable. and jaehyun resented it.

 

promptly scanning over the black and white sketch, jaehyun started making few assumptions as to who the mystery man was —  _wait a whole second, was that jaehyun?_  — and soon came to the conclusion that he was drawn really professionally and in that sketch, jaehyun looked a nice hundred times better. jaehyun looked over from the book to the smiling gentleman and gave him a favorable smile which rather startled sicheng because all he received since morning were scowls and looks of anger. jaehyun couldn't find his voice from within because how could he condemn such a decent and good-hearted man, and just how dare he? "i— uh, this —" jaehyun stammered, glimpsing back and forth from sicheng to the sketch, not having the guts to even speak up. sicheng just chortled and pulled over a chair from nearby and placed it opposite him, and indicated the elder to have a seat, and jaehyun willingly obeyed.

 

"see, i'm not going to tell taeyong about whatever i saw in the school cafeteria. don't worry and just go clear out everything with him, because cheating is bad, right?" sicheng kept on shocking jaehyun with his gentleman-like behavior and mood, that he was just too disconcerted to defend himself and go against sicheng like he incipiently planned on doing. "see, you're misunderstanding. johnny and i have nothing between and whatever you saw was just the product of bad timing and a mere coincidence, and i swear." jaehyun tried rendering but knew he was getting shit like, " _stop lying!_ " or " _whatever, i hate you and i'm going to taeyong anyways!_ "

 

but what he actually got was an understanding nod followed by sicheng's signature grin. "then, there is no problem at all! i know you like taeyong and you trust him and he trusts you and whatever lover stuff you guys abide by." sicheng cheers and substantially quickly lifted up jaehyun's mood, which made sicheng even more content. jaehyun didn't expect this but he wasn't complaining either because the result was startlingly positive. running his hand over his nape, jaehyun rigidly laughed and dodged any eye contact with sicheng because he felt that blameworthy. "sicheng, i'm—" and before jaehyun could proceed further, sicheng had already thought of articulating. "yeah, i know that you're sorry for acting like a bitch, well at least i thought so, to me earlier and yeah, i forgive you because interesting friendships usually start off with some silly misunderstanding and a lot of negative assumptions!"

 

jaehyun was actually tearing up because the last thing he was expecting was this, but jaehyun was also a master in discreetness so he hid his overly emotional behavior behind a grin. "you interrupt a lot, little one." jaehyun notes with a faint smug look, receiving a high-pitched but a very adorable whine from sicheng, making jaehyun giggle like he didn't hate the boy just a few hours ago. "i'm not little, i'm a big boy!"

 

 

-

 

 

taeyong was surprisingly really apprehensive because he really never had a partner for his dance projects, and there was no way taeyong was staying at the institute to practice with sicheng. taeyong was intending to ask sicheng to accompany him to his secret dance rehearsal place, and no one, not even jaehyun knew about the place was what made taeyong so troubled in asking sicheng. rubbing his hands to enhance friction between his palms, taeyong was trying his best to warm himself as he waited for sicheng to come outside the campus as he swore to. it was nearly three in the afternoon and it was really freezing that for about two seconds, taeyong thought about ditching sicheng so he could go over to jaehyun's and just cuddle him.

 

but predestinately, sicheng came out that very moment and taeyong mentally cursed at himself for even thinking of such negative thoughts while all the chinese boy wanted was to partner up. taeyong cleared his throat and with a grin, he advanced towards sicheng and so did sicheng. taeyong was fully clothed with a viscous jacket whereas taeyong discerned that sicheng just had his same full-sleeved navy blue shirt, but this time, sicheng hid his hair under a black beanie. sicheng burst into a simper upon seeing his newly made friend, and without hesitating, he concealed taeyong into a friendly hug. moved by the abrupt act of friendship, taeyong couldn't bring himself to wrap his arms around sicheng, he just couldn't for foreign reasons. sicheng slowly came to the consciousness that taeyong wasn't hugging him back, and pulled away from him incompetently.

 

"yikes, i'm sorry. it's just that i happen to adore hugs, and you looked warm and all so," sicheng lingered off, despairingly not wanting for the situation to turn cumbersome. taeyong pauses and casually grins at the man, before tapping his shoulder stiffly. "it's alright, i just don't have the habit of hugging people other than johnny and jaehyun —" "if you don't mind me asking, what relation do you share with jaehyun?" sicheng intervenes yet again, another person. taeyong looks at him with a bewildered expression and a look that truly screams ' a _re you blind or what?_  '

 

"um— we're dating? i thought you knew, i mean we're pretty obvious and open about it?" taeyong sheepishly shrugs, not comprehending to where sicheng was trying to take him but not making it uncomfortable, taeyong grabs sicheng's sleeve and pulls him outside the steps of the school's grand entrance and took him to the sidewalk. sicheng just felt really warm and giddy from the inside when taeyong's hand hauled onto sicheng's sleeve, but he wasn't quite sure why that small of a gesture made him feel so warm. "okay, so i'm going to take you to a very secret place. and, you aren't allowed to tell anyone about it." taeyong places a warning finger onto sicheng's chest, which would've frightened sicheng if not followed by taeyong's goofy grin.

 

 "well, let's go then!" sicheng enthusiastically cheered, letting soft giggles leave his mouth as taeyong hastened him over to someplace, the cold air making him feel ticklish. the duo stop at this lake, sicheng has no idea where it emerged from and has no knowledge as to why taeyong bought him here. noticing sicheng's unclear and alert expression, taeyong tugged his sleeve once more to get sicheng's attention from the beautiful landscape. sicheng took time to reply — of course, the scenery was way too appealing for anyone's eyes.

 

but involuntarily, sicheng turned to face taeyong, who had some sort of satisfaction in his expression. "it's really beautiful, right?" taeyong asked the dark blonde, who shifted his gaze back to the view and so did taeyong. the lake was crystal blue, the small waves splintering by to produce a calming sound, the tree branches that loosely draped over the water body and the pink flowers that shimmered as the winter dew added some sort of aesthetically gratifying brilliance to it.

 

the wind made the vines dangle off the tree, teasing the surface of the water, rhythmically dance to the cadence of nature. all of this was enough for sicheng to feel so warm and fluffy inside that he just wanted to hug someone, but he knew his options were really restricted so he decided against it. "you're the only one who knows about it, cheng." taeyong's voice remains low, like he doesn't want to obstruct the amicable environment. that statement nearly caught sicheng off-guard, a sense of mortification and maybe honor that he was the only one but a question remained in the back of his head. "not even jaehyun?" he abruptly spoke, kind of alarming taeyong but taeyong covered it up with a gentle smile, not completely sure as to why sicheng asked him that. "nope, not even jaehyun."

 

and sicheng broke out into the most charming smile ever, little fits of giggles escaping him as he returned to glimpse at the spectacle, and taeyong just watched him with extreme affection and admiration. the way sicheng would smile and giggle for the smallest of things, the way the crimson on his cheeks deepened when taeyong touched him, the way sicheng would explode of happiness when taeyong would pay the scantiest attention to his existence. he had not even met sicheng about seven hours and all these thoughts rushed in, making taeyong feel a little light-headed at the accolades that he suddenly made way for in his thoughts when sicheng's face was remembered.

 

 "a specific reason for bringing me here?" sicheng thoughtlessly asked, and taeyong wasn't quite sure whether sicheng was not earnest and didn't know what was happening —  _oh_ , taeyong thought as his gaze fell upon his hand tightly holding onto sicheng's, taeyong's long sleeve engulfing half of his little hand, making it look so cute that sicheng couldn't help but tangle their fingers together.  _but no hard feelings, right?_

 

taeyong flushed pink like the roses hanging over the vines, as he let go of sicheng's hand causing the younger to softly laugh at the older's fastidious situation. and as this friendly scene proceeded, the audience— consisting of a few open-minded adults and a lot of the students who attended their university —behind them unknowingly awed at the couple who were inattentive to what was happening and the misunderstandings that grew as they laughed off their problems.

 

soon, taeyong bought sicheng around the plain where he would practice alone and revealed to him that no one knew about this place for taeyong's own privacy. the mood turned very professional and serious as both the individuals worked on their project, improving each other when they made mistakes and giggled when either of them pulled a shenanigan. the four o' clock meetup somehow extended to eight, and the pair didn't even know when the beautiful blue sky transitioned to the murky orange heaven and both bid each other adieu and went about different. taeyong thought about the shortcomings in their routine and how he could improve whereas sicheng thought about the butterflies that awoke in him when taeyong touched him to correct.

 

 the way his gentle hand gripped his bicep to show him how to fitly perform the step, or when he ruffled sicheng's hair to shake off the fallen petals of the hanging roses which kind of formed a disconnected crown upon his golden hair,  _making him look like a prince_ , taeyong thought to himself. but, sicheng wasn't allowed to feel like this? he just met taeyong, and taeyong isn't even single. what was sicheng even thinking about? "you can't fall for someone who will never be yours, sicheng. don't make the same mistake again, you'll regret it." a voice inside sicheng spoke to him, and sicheng knew it was true but he couldn't help but just get lost in the thoughts of his wonderful first day as a transfer student, very prompt to count the next of the days cheerfully.


	3. Chapter 3

"shit, what's this?" johnny mutters quietly as his thumb scrolls down the university's official gossip page, where all the students could be filled up with the latest news about the campus and the beloved students. johnny had paused his daily scrolling session to something which had finally caught his eye — but he was sure that it was definitely not healthy for a gossip. "fuck, this is going to be a whole scandal, i swear to god," johnny whispers to himself as he enters the campus to their wonderful garden, "taeyong's gotta tell me what's happening." johnny almost instinctively shut down his phone as someone back hugged him, which damn sure startled the taller, but he did turn around to see the culprit — jung jaehyun, with such a devilish yet adorable smile.

 

"hey, jackass! what's up?" jaehyun greets as he slings a loose arm around johnny's collared neck, and both of them walk towards the entrance of the school's main building. as one of the popular kids, both of them had an intricate taste in fashion that made them always stand out from the crowd. today, jaehyun wore something plain and simple, which was unusual, a white shirt tucked into tight, black jeans. and johnny, on the other hand, wore a white shirt with white jeans and an ocean-green pullover, which covered his white shirt but let his collar pop up. "nothing much, dude. the same old shit, practicing, practicing and practicing." johnny mumbled incoherently, his mood undeniably very off after the morning news and jaehyun quite caught up to it. they reached the staircase to the main entrance and jaehyun stopped, which caused johnny to stop as well, to which he let out a short whine. "jaehyun! come on, let's go!" he whined like a small kid, fondling with his phone impatiently, like he was waiting for jaehyun to leave so could check something on it.

 

jaehyun eyes the electronic with narrow eyes, which weirded and freaked out johnny but before he could shove down the electronic down his pocket, jaehyun had snatched it from him. johnny's heartbeat almost halted as he realized that the scandalous article he was skimming through was open right there. all he could do was pray to god that jaehyun doesn't throw his phone down, and accidentally kill taeyong. johnny swore that his death had dawned upon him as he saw jaehyun's eyes widen when he switched on johnny's phone, and johnny tightly shut his eyes to avoid consequences.

 

"johnny," jaehyun's stern voice ringed through johnny's ears and fear builds up in his veins, "you changed your password once again? without telling me the new one?" and that's when johnny believed in the power of god, he sighed in relief which almost raised some sort of suspicion in jaehyun, but johnny could care less now. "yeah, i changed it.." johnny trailed off, and snatched his phone from jaehyun's hand and pushed it into his pocket and turns around to face the university's entrance once again. "you're acting suspicious, johnny. is something wrong?" jaehyun questions the man and quickly catches up with the pacing man, pulling him by his pullover.

 

"e-everything is fine, just stay with me the whole day. it'll be fine."

 

 

-

 

 

sicheng couldn't wait to go to university another day, he just loved being there and learning more about his passion — taeyong was also one of the minor reasons too. sicheng wasn't quite sure if he admired the man or it was a small crush, but he could not wait to see the man again. he just felt that the man's beauty was way too underappreciated for only jaehyun's eyes, and he too wanted to socialize. he pulled the expensive, golden-cream duvets off his half-naked body, and shot up from his comfortable bed in a jiff. he glanced over the clock and caught a glimpse of the time, six o'clock. another hour and half, sicheng had for dressing himself up and taking care of his appetite. he could do it, right?

 

he let his bare feet tingle as the rich fiber of the velvety carpet that floored his room brushed against his feet, making him feel a little ticklish. he got up with a small smile, and headed to the washroom to groom himself and take care of his morning looks. he took a quick shower and finished the more important business, and headed to the huge full-length mirror he owned and which covered one of the four walls of his room. all sicheng wore was a pair of black briefs and the rest of his well-proportioned body was bare. it was a matter of great awe that sicheng owned these well-maintained body proportions, it was not common in his well reputed family, but he was told to practice it.

 

sicheng then carried himself to his rich wardrobe and scanned through it to find something suitable to wear for that day, and gripped himself a pair of white jeans and a maroon sweater followed with a maroon beret. he quickly dressed himself up and proceeded to brush his hair gently, and styled it in a way so that his bangs will give him a sort of an innocent look, which was highly encouraged — more like,  _ordered._ sicheng then sat onto his chair which was placed directly opposite to his dressing table, and stretched his hand over to grab some items to cover up his light flaws, and applied some tint to make his lips look a little more red than usual. after some light eye-makeup and lip tint, the finished product made him look pretty, almost beautiful.

 

sicheng grew up in a family where looking innocent and pure was highly encouraged, even if it meant applying feminine products to eradicate the slightest of flaws. they had this reputation they held in the society, pure but not naive pretty but not seductive. it was more of like a mantra, and gender wasn't looked upon as some type of obstacle because if the dong family wanted to achieve something, they'd do anything for it. latching the lid over his lip tint container, sicheng gave his hair a slight brush as it adds more volume to his hair, which makes the whole look very royal. he looked at the finished product and smiled at how  _pretty_ he looked, he had this deep desire in him to wipe off all this makeup and dress up manly, but he couldn't bring himself to do that because it felt so not right.

 

he shrugged off his irrelevant thoughts and pushed them at the back of his head, and got up to grab his bag which he hunched over his shoulder and moved out of his room. the scent of pancakes and the delicious smell of maple syrup made sicheng light-headed, the warmth of the living room every time he stepped into it was so indescribable. "dong? is my baby awake?" he heard the sweet voice call out for him, and he let a bright smile pick up his broken and dull expression. he runs to the kitchen to see his most favorite sight in the entire world, and engulfs him in a warm hug.

 

sicheng could feel the person's chest vibrate as they shot rings of laughter throughout their body, and it made sicheng feel even more warm. "sicheng, i'm not going anywhere. you can leave me now." the person tells sicheng in a stern tone, but they blew their stern cover with another session of their sweet laughter. "you know how much i love you, kun." sicheng mutters as he nuzzles his face into kun's neck, and tightens his grip around kun's waist. "i know, i know. i love you too, sicheng. a lot more than you imagine." kun replies as he lets the taller man chuckle into his neck, and kun never felt so happy.

 

sicheng pulls away eventually, pressing a sweet kiss onto kun's nose before heading off for breakfast which kun had set up on the table already. sicheng smiles as he digs right into his food and kun follows to sit right opposite sicheng, and places his chin onto his hand and observes sicheng.  _such a sweet sight_ , kun wonders and unknowingly breaks out into a smile. "kun-ge, you want to eat with me?" sicheng looks up to kun with such innocent eyes, and his cheeks puffed up with the pancakes he stuffed. kun coos at the sight and shakes his head, motioning sicheng to continue his breakfast.

 

sicheng paused to argue with kun, but decided against it because kun  _always_ won arguments, no matter who is wrong or who is right. "do you want to do something after your university?" kun breaks the silence which was only haunting him because sicheng had his own pancakes to attend and consume. sicheng pauses from his eating session and looks up to kun, with his brows furrowed and lips forming a little pout and cheeks filled with the heavenly breakfast which made sicheng look so cute that kun was about to die.

 

"oh, yes! i have something after university with my friend, we're going nearby a lake—" sicheng nearly choked when he saw kun raising his eyebrow and smirk, "—we're not going on a date! he's just a friend!" kun lets out another hearty laugh and watches sicheng crumble in embarrassment, as the tip of his ears turn red and so does his face. "kun-ge, don't tease me." sicheng mumbles with food in his mouth, lips forming another irresistible pout. "okay okay, now hurry up and finish your food. don't want to be late for your second day!" kun rushes sicheng, as he took his last bite and wiped his maple syrup coated lips with a napkin.

 

kun hands him his bag and pushes him to the door, edging him to get out. "i'll be back soon, kun. please wait for me." sicheng bows down and greets kun goodbye, after placing a chaste kiss onto the older's cheek. kun waves him goodbye and shuts the door once sicheng went out of sight and into the lift. kun grazed his fingers across his cheek, where sicheng had kissed him, and felt the red lip tint color the tip of his long fingers. kun never felt so happy in his life, being appointed as sicheng's 'friend' and caretaker for his stay in korea was the best decision ever made.

 

he had known sicheng since they both barely knew how to speak, their parents being the best of friends. sicheng could trust kun with his entire life, and vice versa. when kun heard that sicheng was going out of china to korea, he was very broken but when sicheng's parents gave him the proposition of accompanying him since kun knew decent korean and had been there before. kun couldn't say no, he loved sicheng a lot. but all in a friendly way, maybe a little more but so does sicheng so it's balanced. if anyone saw how domestic and affectionate they were, they assume that both of them are married and will be celebrating their fourth anniversary.

 

it was weird when people assumed they were dating, were they really really obvious? kun would always wonder, but shrugged it off. heading back to his room to sort out his daily chores, kun finally found a way to keeping himself busy. meanwhile at the institute, things weren't looking really bright and great. taeyong had entered the campus, to see everyone huddled up into groups and whispered gibberish. keen eyes on taeyong, and a few glares were also thrown in. what was happening?

 

he lowered his gaze to avoid all interactions, and surprisingly, no one came to him for greetings or simple conversations. anxiety build up taeyong's veins, and his grip over his books became tighter. suddenly, he felt a rise in temperature but the actual temperature remained cool. cheeks flushed, and his red face kind of confirmed his guilt to others, or at least that's what they assumed. and all of a sudden, the murmurings and all the uncomfortable atmosphere came to an abrupt pause and so did taeyong's pace. he turned around, like all the others, just to see his dance partner. people's eyes widened and they resumed their whatever gossip but sicheng was an oblivious baby so all he did was smile and rush to a flustered taeyong.

 

"yonggie, how are you?" sicheng asked but made sure to tone down his loudness, noticing people's fixated gazes on them and how taeyong shrunk into himself from all this  _negative_ attention. taeyong just shifted closer to him, not very close as how sicheng would prefer even though he despised skinship. the other students seemed to enjoy the drama in front of their eyes, while some others were quite angry and taeyong could feel it. he whimpers and moves even closer to sicheng, who gladly wraps his arm around taeyong's neck, and taeyong just melted into his touch. taeyong  _craved_ human contact, no matter who it is.

 

"yonggie, are you fine? do you want to leave from here?" sicheng softly asks, his grip around taeyong's shoulder ever gentle. taeyong just whimpers and nods his head in agreement and sicheng takes off with the older safe in his arms. the speed was undeniably very uncomfortable for taeyong but he really wanted to get out of the main hall. he just shut his eyes tight, and inched closer to sicheng. the dark blonde felt much warmer and he smelled like roses, taeyong would literally purr if he got a chance to.

 

meanwhile sicheng's main focus wasn't taeyong in his arms, it was how scared he looked when people pierced their gazes towards him. didn't everyone love him? what had happened? even when sicheng entered the campus, everyone seemed to whisper about him too. even though it's sicheng's second day and his fresh popularity almost seemed like a dream, his main focus was taeyong and his comfort. that's why he took him to the vocal training room, because when sicheng first came to the campus, no one was there.

 

he soon located the room in the quiet hallway, and barged into the room to see that they had company today. sicheng didn't like that two figures were already in the corner, so he protectively slid his arm onto taeyong's waist instead of his neck, and pulled him closer. taeyong opened his eyes upon the sudden contact and felt a blush rise up on his cheeks as he saw sicheng's arm around his waist. but thoughts were interrupted by sobs and silent cries, and they sounded  _way_ too familiar.

 

taeyong looked up to see that two figures already occupied the corner of the room, which he recognized as the vocal training room, and saw one of them hunched into the other's arms, crying. the one who lend his shoulder looked up to the guests and taeyong froze right in his tracks. the other did the same, and taeyong could feel blood rising up in his veins. he was eternally fucked, oh so he was.

 

it didn't take him half a second to recognize the other crying individual because that man also raised up his head to see taeyong and sicheng. seeing the position of the two men, the other resumed his crying and went straight ahead for the taller man's shoulder. sicheng was this close to killing himself, he was the most dumb man on this planet and he knew he deserved nothing but death then. he removed his arm away from taeyong's waist, and stepped away from him.

 

taeyong grabbed the opportunity to rush to the two other men. "johnny, why is he crying—" taeyong was interrupted by the taller's icy yet familiar gaze telling him to step away immediately. taeyong was beyond confused, he didn't know what was happening but he put two and two together and blamed himself. "jaehyun baby, why are you—" and once more, johnny had interrupted. "can't you just shut up for once? stop playing dumb, and stop your whole act or whatever." taeyong had never ever heard johnny speak so cruelly and coldly. disgust and anger dripped from every syllable johnny spoke, and taeyong couldn't help but tear up.

 

sicheng wasn't the best either, he felt extremely guilty and really wanted to leave so that those three could talk it out. but he used his senses and realized that doing so would worsen the situation. he needed to stay quiet and not interfere in other matters. jaehyun seemed to regain his senses and he turned around from johnny's chest to face his boyfriend, who looked as broken as he did. his stare then shifted to sicheng, who silently whimpered at the intensity of the gaze.

 

"he's the one," jaehyun spoke to taeyong, who had already started crying. "it's him, isn't it?" jaehyun whimpered, his lips quivering and tears threatening to start flowing again. taeyong pathetically turned to sicheng, and furiously shook his head. "i d-don't know what you're s-saying." johnny lets out a scowl and scoffs at taeyong, startling him. "taeyong, will you stop lying? you met him just yesterday and you've hit it off?" he mocks with his eyes darker than the night sky and crueler than the worst of emperors. taeyong looked back at sicheng and gestured him to explain what was actually happening, but sicheng just shook his head.

 

neither of them two knew what was happening, but johnny was fuming with rage. "listen to me johnny, i don't know what you're saying and i definitely do not have anything with him." taeyong manages to choke out between his sobs, and jaehyun cried louder and louder. taeyong was broken, he didn't know why jaehyun was crying but he wanted to know why he was so that he could comfort him. "so, you aren't fucking sicheng? taeyong, i thought you were better than a lying bitc-"

 

"johnny, don't you dare call him something he's not. you don't know what's actually happening and we don't either, so coordinate with us and clear all the misunderstandings." sicheng sternly calls out, his tone as cold as ice. johnny looked rather offended when sicheng opened his mouth, what was he even thinking? jaehyun suddenly silenced his sobs, and got up from johnny's embrace and stood up while wiping away his tears from his face.

 

"johnny and sicheng, both of you. leave, now."


	4. Chapter 4

"there is no one i love more than you, please believe me," or, "he's no one to me. we just met yesterday!" word by word, syllable by syllable, sicheng's heart would crumble into fine pieces of an emotionless pit of agony.

 

he stood outside the room with the older, who taunted him with his haunting and piercing stares. sicheng felt so alone and hurt, and he didn't even know why. _it's just been one day, just been one day_ , he'd continuously repeat to himself.

 

there was another thirty minutes till classes began, but sicheng wanted to escape to anywhere he got a chance to. there was this undeniable feeling in his heart he couldn't ignore, but he had to. johnny patiently sat outside, expression monotonous and he had the most chill aura around him.

 

meanwhile, sicheng was agitated and confused. he didn't want to ruin anyone's healthy relationship, but he wanted to be jaehyun so bad. he wanted to feel taeyong's hand caressing his cheek softly as he muttered endless chants of admiration. he wanted taeyong to steal little kisses from him, he wanted taeyong to decorate his body with butterfly kisses.

 

infatuation, mere infatuation, sicheng told himself to calm his nerves down. no one can fall in love with someone in just a day, that's impossible. well, maybe it was possible. but how will sicheng know? he is well-versed in everything except love, that goddamn emotion that makes sicheng feel so fuzzy that he just has to shut himself up.

 

moments later, sicheng and johnny face two happy and giggly men, and johnny couldn't be more content. his smile was the brightest after seeing taeyong and jaehyun kiss like before, even though his suspicion on sicheng never wavered away.

 

"i'm sorry for calling you names, taeyong. it was kind of like in the heat of the moment, you know. but, i'm glad that you and jaehyun made up. it's nice to see the nation's power couple back together." johnny remarks with a small laugh at the end, and the two men just smiled at each other.

 

sicheng couldn't bare to see anything happy, he was feeling nothing but extreme sadness. without bothering to say goodbye, he raced his way from out there as he tried to blink away all the tears from his golden eyes. 

 

what hurt sicheng even more was that taeyong didn't even bother to spare a glance at him, but why did it hurt sicheng so much? they had nothing between them, taeyong wasn't obliged to pay attention to him. 

 

"stupid taeyong, stupid me, stupid feelings—" sicheng muttered in between his silent sobs, his vision blurry due to his tears. he hung his head low when he saw all the students looking at him, they seemed to know what was going on. they seemed to know everything.

 

sicheng just shut his eyes tightly, immediately wiping the tear that fell. he walked to his first class, photography, because he didn't know where to go. studying the school map beforehand was a wonderful idea. on his way, he crashed into another human figure and that caused the items of the other to fall onto the floor. 

 

"oh lord, i'm so so sorry—" sicheng apologized instantly, crouching to collect the fallen items and the other figure imitated. "oh no, it's fine— wait, are you crying?" the other, a male, spoke up abruptly, dropping whatever he had collected and lifted up sicheng's jaw with his forefinger.

 

"t-ten?" sicheng choked out, and suddenly he saw ten's eyes soften upon the sight of sicheng tearing up. "oh, my poor sicheng." ten cooed and widened his arms so that sicheng could engulf him and maybe feel better, and that's exactly what sicheng did.

 

feelings felt overwhelmed and sicheng couldn't control them, and just ran to hide himself in ten's embrace. ten reciprocated the hug and softly stroked sicheng's hair and whispered some calm lyrics.

 

sicheng's sobs slowly quietened down and all that escaped his lips was soft whimpers. it was a weird scene but was really heart-warming, seeing two guys on the floor with various objects around them but it seemed like none of them cared because of how protected they looked in each other's embrace.

 

"sicheng, what happened?" ten gently asked him, his soft strokes never halted. sicheng just mumbled some incoherent terms and just shook his head, snugging deeper into ten's chest and wrapping his arms tightly around ten's petite waist, ten was so warm.

 

that made ten giggle, but he had to break away because how weird would it look when their professor would look at the scene. sicheng whined when he lost contact, but ten just shook his head glaringly, in a light way. 

 

"let's get inside the classroom first, and then you have to tell me what made you cry, alright?" ten's voice remained so tender that it seemed like if ten went even a little high-pitched with his voice, sicheng would break. that's how fragile he looked.

 

sicheng hesitantly nodded and returned to pick up the fallen items and noticed a dismantled canonent G III QL17 on the floor, and it looked pretty expensive. sicheng picked up the pieces and just looked up at ten with fear and guilt in his eyes, but ten just reassuringly nodded his head.

 

"no no, it's fine. it was old anyways, i'll buy another one." ten said, but with a underlying tone of despair. sicheng firmly shook his head, and stood up from his sitting position. "no, i'll buy you a new one. i damaged it, so i'm getting you a new one."

 

ten shook his head in disappointment and ignored what sicheng said. carrying all the collected items in his hands, he proceeded towards the classroom. but sicheng ran to follow him, and saw ten drop all his stuff onto a table and he turned around to face the chinese.

 

"i don't think we've had a proper introduction yet, so hello! i'm ten and i'm thai!" ten forwards his hand to shake hands with the chinese, and they briefly shake hands for two seconds. "and i'm dong sicheng, as you know, and i'm chinese!" sicheng tries to lighten up the mood by going a pitch higher, but his voice was way too deep for that so ten just laughed.

 

"okay okay, jokes aside. now, tell me why you were crying?" ten changes his tone to a more serious one and sicheng just freezes once again and he goes back in time for a while. "i uh, i don't really know but uh, it's something related to taeyong?" sicheng tries to word his sadness but clearly fails at it.

 

ten looked visibly shook at the mention of taeyong's name and lowered his gaze, as if he didn't want to talk about taeyong. "uh, so do you know j-johnny?" ten nervously plays with his fingers, but sicheng didn't understand the emotion.

 

"yeah, i do know him too. but i guess we're not on good terms," sicheng shrugs, unsure of what his relationship with johnny was. a silent whimper escaped ten's mouth and that's when it hit sicheng — ten was sobbing.

 

sicheng immediately embraced the thai warmly, just like how ten did earlier. "it's okay, don't cry. if you're not comfortable in telling me, then don't." sicheng mumbled into ten's hair, tightening the hug and started stroking the shorter's back.

 

ten pulled away from the hug and messily wiped away his tears before firmly nodding."no no, i'm going to tell you, it's not a big deal anyways. johnny was my ex-boyfriend, and he broke it off with me saying that he was in love with someone else and i was never enough for him. never wanted to cross paths with him after that, that bitch broke my heart into a million pieces. we dated for three years, cheng, three years!

 

sicheng stiffened a bit at the story and looked at ten with soft eyes, his heart warming up in pity for the older. "uh, don't cry, tennie! it'll be alright, now that i'm here!" sicheng cheers up, trying to balance the mood with his smiles and laughter. 

 

seeing sicheng's smile, ten smiled because sicheng looked really adorable when he smiled. "yeah, it'll be alright." and then, after a few moments, the class started to fill up and classes soon began but ten and sicheng were inseparable.

 

soon, it was lunch time and sicheng stuck with ten, trying to avoid taeyong in every way possible. sicheng found out that he only shared dance with taeyong, but ten was also there so sicheng stuck with ten. taeyong's and sicheng's eyes briefly met for a minute, which seemed like a whole hour to sicheng but he loved every moment of it.

 

taeyong's eyes seemed to have the whole galaxy in them, his eyes shining brightly like the stars he adored. but then, the emotions in taeyong's eyes changed when sicheng looked away as quick as possible. taeyong was hurt, what did he do that sicheng refused to even look at him?

 

but taeyong shrugged it off as maybe sicheng wanting to find someone else as a friend, and he could ask sicheng what was wrong when they would meet up at the lake anyways. he didn't need to worry, so he just left the situation hanging.

 

meanwhile, our boy sicheng had found quite a few people at the cafeteria staring at him and ten, and sicheng wanted to end himself right there and then. he stuck closer to ten, who wrapped his arm around sicheng's shoulder and bought him closer to ten, flashing a fake smile to anyone who looked at sicheng in a questionable way.

 

sicheng was really nervous, it was his second day and everyone seemed to hate him for some reason he didn't know about. he felt out of place and he was super grateful for ten to be by his side. "don't worry, chenggie, big brother is here for you," ten smiles at sicheng and ruffles his hair, as they both head towards the table ten sits at with his friends.

 

they both reach there to find three people sitting on the table, and ten urged sicheng to sit with them. sicheng lowered his gaze and sat quietly next to ten, and he could literally feel the piercing gazes of the three men on the table.

 

"so, before you say anything or make any assumptions about my new friend, i'm going to introduce him to you all," ten begins his speech but sicheng keeps his gaze lowered, "this is dong sicheng and he's a new transfer! if you hear any rumor about him, just shrug it off because it's not true."

 

sicheng could hear the three mutter something and he just waited for them to respond, he just wanted to have friends and we already have him involved in this so-called rumor. "oh, so he's chinese?" a voice pipes in, he sounds very cheery and happy so he doesn't hate sicheng, that's nice. "uh yes, he is chinese. i expect you all to be nice to him because—"

 

"hey sicheng, you wanna date me because you're mad cute," sicheng hears another guy say which makes sicheng go red with embarrassment. "goddammit nakamoto! can't you like not flirt with every human you see?" ten yells at this nakamoto guy, and sicheng slowly raises his head to scan the three men.

 

really goddamn attractive, were the first thoughts of them when sicheng looked at the three. "so sorry for that, chenggie. yuta's an asshole, but hello? guys? introduce yourselves!" ten, once again, yells at the three men who flinch at ten's high-pitched yell. ten was really, really loud.

 

 "hello, i'm kim jungwoo," says the blonde one, and sicheng recognizes his voice as the guy who asked ten whether he was chinese or not. "i'm moon taeil, nice to meet you, sicheng." says the guy with red hair, and sicheng smiles at him to be polite. "and, i'm nakamoto yuta and i think you're really cute." says the nakamoto guy before winking at sicheng, and the chinese shies away.

 

ten glares at yuta from the corner of his eye, but yuta being the lovely asshole he is, ignores ten and continues staring at sicheng with his classic heart eyes. "so, welcome to the clique, chenggie!" ten says with his bright smile, and tens' smile make everyone smile, and so did sichengs'.

 

soon, the five were immersed in a deep conversation with each other and the other students stopped looking at sicheng and minded their own businesses. except taeyong. he wanted to know why sicheng was completely ignoring him, like not even a glance. 

 

sicheng had the time to laugh and talk with his new friends but not taeyong, and it saddened the older a lot. did sicheng suddenly lose interest in him or something? did taeyong do something to upset him? was it something about the morning incident?

 

the lake was the answer to all of taeyong's questions.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

sicheng bid his new friends goodbye, and saw them walk off to their respective houses and then, started his journey back to his apartment. it was fairly a good day, if you eliminate the whole morning incident, and sicheng was a little bit happier.

 

it feels nice to have friends, and friends like ten were one in a million and sicheng really looked forward to speak to him more. sicheng set his journey, with his hands in his pockets and lips curved into his lovely smile. 

 

the sky was cloudy and grey, and the winds were strong but sicheng could care less about it. he found such good company that even the saddest of things couldn't make him sad anymore, he couldn't wait to tell kun about it.

 

as he was distracted by thoughts, sicheng didn't notice that it was already drizzling. sicheng let himself get soaked, he liked the feeling of water on him, it was calming and soothing. but then, there was a shadow over his head, it was an umbrella.

 

sicheng looked behind to identify the owner of the umbrella, and saw one of his favorite sights, lee taeyong. but taeyong's eyes weren't shining as usual, they were dull and sad. "aren't you coming for practice with me?" taeyong spoke as he came closer to sicheng, covering himself up too from the rain.

 

taeyong sounded so astonishingly sad that sicheng just wanted to hug the sadness out of him, taeyong just seemed very sad. "uh— i'm kind of busy," sicheng decided to lie his way out, he wasn't mentally prepared to see taeyong after this morning but his heart just warmed when he saw taeyong's eyes water.

 

"so, you're n-not coming?" taeyong's voice this time, comes out as a mere whisper and sicheng's heart broke bit by bit when he saw taeyong like that. he opened his mouth to defend his answer and just leave taeyong alone, but nothing came out. 

 

sicheng knew he had to agree because he couldn't just leave taeyong like that. "n-no, i'll come with you, alright? i'll just text my friend that i'll come home late, hold on." sicheng gave in with taeyong, and sicheng swore on the cloudy sky that the moment sicheng said that taeyong's eyes just brightened up like the bright summer sun.

 

sicheng stepped out of the shade of the umbrella to text kun, but taeyong inched closer to him and put the umbrella over sicheng's head again, safeguarding him from the rain. "don't go like that in the rain, you'll get sick. take this umbrella and then go and text your friend," taeyong offers sicheng the umbrella and steps away from him, standing at a considerable distance.

 

sicheng just stared at taeyong in awe, taeyong gave up his umbrella and stood in the rain for him? sicheng's heartbeat fastened, and his entire body warmed up in some emotion. taeyong caught sicheng staring at him and smiled at sicheng, his eyes shining brightly and overflowing with care.

 

sicheng could almost feel his heartbeat quickening, and cheeks were flushed. he removes his smartphone from his bag, and quickly sends kun a text message reading, "i'm coming home late as i told earlier in the morning." and kun quickly replied back approving his message. after texting kun, sicheng just stared at the blank screen, he didn't want to face taeyong.

 

why didn't he want to face taeyong yet? because his heart started beating rapidly and his body grew warm and he overall felt happy when he saw taeyong, and sicheng didn't want to feel that at all. he didn't know what emotion he was experiencing and he didn't want to know either.

 

but the rain was very heavy around sicheng and realization hit him quick that taeyong wasn't under the umbrella and quickly looked up to see taeyong absolutely drenched but with a solemn expression, almost like he wasn't mad at sicheng for hogging the umbrella.

 

but sicheng wasn't heartless nor shameless so he ran to taeyong and bought him under the shade. "i'm very sorry, my friend was having a pretty long conversation with me." sicheng apologized but taeyong just laughed. "it's okay, should we head out before  _you_ catch a cold,"

 

taeyong was the one who was drenched and he was worrying about sicheng, if that is not such a gentleman-like quality? sicheng blushed like usual and immediately looked down to avoid eye contact with taeyong, and that made the older laugh.

 

then, sicheng could feel a hand holding his as taeyong takes off to some place where they could stand dry. and so he did, he found shelter for the two in a cafeteria close to the university and taeyong pulled sicheng in with him.

 

"um, what is happening?" sicheng asks taeyong as taeyong shoves him into the corner of the cafeteria, and then proceeds to look around like he's hiding from someone. "jaehyun told me he doesn't want me practicing with you at the lake,"

 

sicheng was visibly offended by that statement and taeyong could see his little smile turning into a scowl upon the mention of jaehyun. "and that's not because of what happened today, chenggie, it's because he doesn't want the other students to get the wrong idea about us,"

 

"we're just friends and nothing more, and probably will be nothing more,"

 

and from then, sicheng refused to hear whatever taeyong said after that. sicheng just blankly stared at taeyong, just watching his lips moving but sicheng didn't want to hear anything. it had been two days, just two days.

 

_just friends and nothing more._


	5. Chapter 5

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

sicheng wasn't going to fall for this ridiculous shit, he was not going to fall for a man who is already taken. he wasn't that evil, you know— the ones in the movies. sicheng didn't want to be an interruption but god, he really wanted to be the reason behind taeyong's smile.

 

sicheng tried to convince himself that he does not enjoy it when taeyong smiles at him with his eyes sparkling like the bright constellations sicheng loved so much. a lover of astronomy and only astronomy, sicheng indeed was.

 

while in china, sicheng was so eager to study the cosmic world that he somehow managed to convince his parents to get him a home tutor for astronomy. he was taught about so many magnificent things, and how that the outer world isn't just twinkling stars.

 

it's more than that and sicheng loved every bit of it. he was just an eight year old boy when he started with astronomy and now eleven years later, he's pretty well-versed. but when he saw taeyong for the first time, he never felt happier.

 

 two weeks had passed away and the duo were very into their practice. sicheng decided to forget his feelings for a while but when taeyong came closer to him to fix his posture, sicheng's ugly heart started beating faster and faster.

 

"hey, i was wondering, do you live alone? or with someone?" taeyong abruptly asks as the duo take a break from their intense practice session. "i live with my friend, kun. why do you ask?" sicheng replies with a rather confused look. 

 

"ah, no. just wanted to know, but anyways, wanna hang out with the gang?" taeyong politely asks with a hint of hopefulness, and his tender smile everlasting. how was sicheng supposed to say no? "i don't think they like me—"

 

"no no! they do like you! it was just that one time they misunderstood! i made sure to actually tell them what we are, so please?" taeyong clings onto sicheng's arm and slightly pulls it, pouting a bit for extra effect. today was not sicheng's day, that was for sure.

 

"okay, okay! don't be a pouty baby about it! i'll come," sicheng finally sighs, not knowing that taeyong's cheeks flushed as he heard sicheng call him a baby. "oh, okay then! so where do we hang out?" taeyong asks a little impatiently, the main reason being that his sicheng isn't stolen by whatever ten's clique.

 

 _his_ sicheng? taeyong almost choked on his spit, what was he even thinking? but why was he so bothered by that? he should just ignore it, sicheng isn't his anyways. for god's sake, he's taken by a gentleman, why is he even bothered by this?

 

"yongie! yongie, are you even listening?" taeyong hears someone calling his name, and sees a huge palm being waved in front of his face. "uh, sorry? i just zoned out, please repeat?" taeyong looks at sicheng intently, and sicheng could almost see his eyes sparkle in awe.

 

taeyong's eyes really resembled the stars in innumerable ways and it made sicheng really fuzzy and warm inside. "why don't you all come at my place? we can hang out at my place, if that's comfortable—"

 

"that's perfect, chengie! i'll go and tell them! i have to go on a date with jaehyun, now! bye bye, see you later!" taeyong hastily packs his stuff and rushes out as fast as he could from the practice room at the university, and sicheng stands there utterly confused.

 

there was no way taeyong's heart was beating so fast and so swift around some guy he saw just weeks ago, at least not the same way his heart beats around jaehyun.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"kunnie! my friends are coming over today, so please don't be mad at them! please, please?" sicheng begs the older, literally following the older around the house like a little puppy. 

 

"sicheng, are you sure these people are safe? you can't just trust anyone these days, you know—" saying kun was angry at sicheng for inviting people over whom he didn't know was an understatement, kun was livid.

 

"kunnie! why don't you want my friends to come over? do you not like me anymore or do you not trust me anymore?" the last part came out as a whisper as sicheng's eyes already began to water, he didn't like it when kun was mad at him or his decisions.

 

kun sighed and turned around, but his attitude changed as soon as he saw sicheng's glassy eyes. the boy was just way too soft to disregard sicheng's request and now with the glassy eyes, it became so hard. but protecting sicheng was like his main priority, he couldn't just let anyone be friends with him.

 

kun let his anger slide past him and gently walked towards sicheng and wiped away his tears, and wrapping his arm around the younger's waist. "baby, you know i'm just worried about you. your parents didn't just send me with you to take care of you, they also sent me so i can protect you from all the evil. you're so pure, sicheng, they don't want anyone to harm you—"

 

"my friends aren't that bad, kunnie! i promise, i promise. please," sicheng continued to beg kun, and now that kun has his arm around sicheng, it made it easier for sicheng to kiss kun's nose. also known as, kun's absolute weakness.

 

kun really liked it when sicheng kissed him, sicheng's lips were super soft and kun's skin was super soft so it was more of a win-win situation for both. it was totally without feelings though, neither of them liked each other in that way, they just had different ways of showing affection.

 

"okay, fine. but if i don't like them, then i don't want you talking to them at all." kun finally caved in, and the moment he did, he heard sicheng squeal and decorate kun's face with kisses all over. "i love you so much, kunnie! thank you!"

 

it gave kun eternal happiness when sicheng smiled, he really wanted nothing else but the younger to smile. sicheng was brought up as a pure child, he didn't know anything sultry or sensual. he didn't get the adult jokes, or anything of such sort.

 

and kun really loved that thing about him, sicheng's pureness. it made him look like such an angel, and which he was. it made kun really angry when people thought of sicheng in a way which doubted sicheng's purity, his sicheng wasn't like that. his sicheng was pure and not like the others.

 

"kunnie? can you select me an outfit? i can't decide," and in a few, kun is dragged to sicheng's closet where he's thrown out a million options. it didn't really take kun ages to figure out that sicheng was trying to impress a certain someone. "so, who is this special someone you're dressing up for?"

 

kun didn't receive an answer but the evident blush on sicheng's face gave it away. hovering over a blue shirt and white jeans, kun smiles and picks it up and hands it over to the younger. "you wore this when we first came here, wear this."

 

sicheng looks at kun's longing expression and his wonderful smile and just stares and ponders over how much kun cares about him. it's a matter of immense pleasure to have someone like kun in your life, someone you can trust with all your heart and all your secrets.

 

"kun-ge, have i told you how much i love you?" sicheng abruptly says with all seriousness and kun just smiles and response. he knows how much sicheng loves him, he is well aware. "i know, baby. now, go and dress up before your certain someone comes because you've gotta impress, you know!"

 

placing a chaste kiss onto kun's cheek, sicheng rushes to change himself and he does it all with a smile. knowing that kun will forever wait for him, and that if everyone turned their backs against him, kun will never. 

 

it's their bond— just their own special bond. they weren't sons of famous business partners, no— they were more than that. they were more than just friends, they were just destined to take care of each other.

 

sicheng knows that even if he has the dirtiest secret of them all, he can into kun's arms and rant out to him about it. kun will listen, kiss his forehead and help throughout. kun was just sicheng's big, fluffy teddy bear whom sicheng loved a lot. 

 

sicheng would never want for kun to stay mad at him over anything. kun deserves the best for whatever he's doing for sicheng, giving up his own life in an unknown country for sicheng being at the top of the list.

 

kun was there from the beginning and he will be there till the end, sicheng just knows it. sicheng knows that his story will never begin with just sicheng's name. it'll always be sicheng and kun, never separated from one another. 

 

sicheng would not like his story's beginning to be something without kun, he just didn't require kun, he  _needed_ him. he had to make kun proud of whatever sicheng does in his life, and starting from now, it's going to be taeyong.


	6. Chapter 6

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

it felt nice to see jaehyun and johnny return to their normal behaviors around sicheng. taeyong was really happy that their misunderstanding was cleared out, he loved his jaehyun way too much to lose him over such a trivial matter.

 

it took taeyong no time to convince jaehyun and johnny to hang out with the chinese, they weren't even a bit reluctant. they knew they messed up their beginning of theirs and sicheng's friendship, but that wasn't going to continue. that was the decision made by the two of them.

 

so with gorgeous smiles and lovely attitudes, they showed up at sicheng's given address and waited for their host to invite them in. in a few minutes after their knock, the door was opened to someone— who was not sicheng or even resembled him in the slightest way.

 

"ah, you must be sicheng's friends! please come inside, don't worry, i'm quite related to sicheng to live with him!" the man introduced them to the rich and expensive interior of their massive and spacious apartment, sicheng was very rich it seemed.

 

the three of them stood near the entrance as this said man rushed to one of the many rooms and dragged out an angel—  _sicheng_ , taeyong means, who looked rather happy than surprised to see them a bit earlier than the time decided.

 

"oh! you guys actually made it! i'm very happy you all came, please have a seat on the couches! kunnie, would you please please get them something to drink—"

 

"oh, please don't take the pain. we don't require your utmost hospitality, dear sicheng's beautiful friend—"

 

"johnny, what the fuck are you saying? um, ignore the bigfoot, we'd like uh, water maybe!" jaehyun retorts at his taller best friend who was clearly shooting heart eyes at this other man at sicheng's house. "johnny, control your hormones. it's not the time," jaehyun whispered to johnny only to receive a scowl from him.

 

"i want myself a good man, and i know he's the chosen one!" johnny whisper-yells but taeyong has to clamp his hand over johnny's mouth before johnny could say more since this said johnny's two second crush had already presented them with water.

 

he takes a seat opposite to the trio, maybe trying to initiate conversation with them since sicheng was busy brushing his hair in his room. "i'm qian kun, sicheng's um— b-best f-friend? yeah, that's how you can put it. um, and i'm also chinese if you didn't guess by now,"

 

"chinese, huh? interesting, maybe you can teach me some chinese—" johnny is again rudely cut off but jaehyun slapping the older's thigh, which makes him scowl again. "i'm very sorry about johnny— oh, and wait! i'm jaehyun and this is my boyfriend, taeyong!"

 

kun was a bit surprised, if two of them were dating each other and the other guy was showing interest in rather kun, then whom did sicheng like? "nice to meet you three, now if you'll excuse me, i'll grab sicheng for you all," kun needed answers from sicheng.

 

"did you look at his manners? he seems like he was raised in a royal family, and he is so goddamn gorgeous!" it's taeyong's turn to sigh this time, johnny was sometimes very.. undescribable.

 

meanwhile kun rushed to sicheng's room to still see him grooming himself, and that flared him up. "dong sicheng, there are guests in this house and you're still busy with yourself? where are your manners gone?"

 

kun's immediate anger caught sicheng off-guard, he knew he was dragging the whole grooming himself thing a bit too much but seeing such an unexpected reaction from kun was suspicious. "kun-ge, is there any problem? do you not like them?" sicheng curiously inquired from the older, there has to be something wrong with the older's behavior.

 

kun deeply sighed and moved a bit closer to sicheng, "is there something i don't know about your certain someone?" and maybe sicheng understood what he meant, but to save his integrity and shame, he played dumb. "huh? i do not understand?"

 

kun's seventh sense immediately rang throughout his whole body, sicheng was playing dumb and kun knew it. "sicheng, i'm going to repeat myself once more, okay? is there something i do not know about this certain someone?"

 

and sicheng knew he had to give in, but what would he tell kun? "hey, i think i have a crush on a guy who is taken by this other gentleman who is in very much love with my supposed crush, and i think i'm some bad guy in their story?"

 

that was not how sicheng wanted his answer to be, he didn't want kun to think he was some sort of evil little witch, even though sicheng trusted him not to think so negatively about the younger. "uh, maybe he's dating someone else?" sicheng squeaked and timidly made eye contact with the older, who seemed to have all emotion sucked out from him.

 

"jaehyun or taeyong?" kun asked, his tone almost scary because of how monotonous he sounded. sicheng was afraid to answer but he knew he had to or else he'd disappoint his kunnie, which he did not want to. "taeyong," he replied with a deep sigh, feeling very guilty about even having feelings for the korean in the first place.

 

sicheng closed his eyes and waited for kun to yell at him and correct him and tell him that it is wrong to like a someone who is already taken, but it's kun we're talking about here. instead of the expected, sicheng receives a warm hug from kun and sicheng almost melts into kun's arms.

 

sicheng hides himself in kun's chest, not entirely caring about his freshly gelled hair but only caring about the man who held him. and kun doesn't hesitate to tightly embrace sicheng, letting one of his hands to softly stroke the younger's gold hair.

 

"chengie, do you feel good around him?" kun softly asks sicheng, his voice as tender as his embrace. and instead of words, sicheng just nods his head because he knew kun would understand. "then, be careful. don't hurt yourself, and don't hurt taeyong, okay? i like him, he doesn't seem bad for you,"

 

"but then remember and consider everyone's feelings, alright? but don't feel guilty about your feelings, you just like him, you're not planning murder, right? and if you want anyone's support, remember your kunnie is right here for you," and kun's finishes it up with a soft kiss pressed onto sicheng's head.

 

"i love you, kun-ge." that's all kun needs to know that sicheng understood, they didn't need paragraphs to communicate with each other or express their feelings. they just had their special ways. "i love you too, sicheng."

 

it was that moment sicheng realized he had guests over, and kun somehow sensed it so he immediately left sicheng. "now, go go and impress the guests." kun sends the baby off, and chuckles at how quickly sicheng made his way into the living room. "and, if possible, keep the bigfoot away from me, he's a big no-no,"

 

but kun whispers that so no one necessarily heard him, and he too follows sicheng to the hall. just to find two people sitting there with sicheng, taeyong seemed to have disappeared. kun was confused and so was sicheng, but before kun could ask, it seemed like sicheng already did.

 

"he went to get water for himself, and i think he went in that direction," jaehyun proceeds to point in the direction of sicheng's room from where kun and sicheng came from after their little moment, and sicheng just nodded.

 

but kun sensed something wrong again, and he knew that sicheng was in deep trouble. if taeyong was lingering around that place, then he would've definitely overheard the conversation the two chinese men had. and people, sometimes, tend to misunderstand kun's and sicheng's relationship.

 

kun didn't want anything to go wrong in sicheng's and taeyong's friendship, he didn't want taeyong to misunderstand anything before anything between sicheng and taeyong begun. "um, sorry. i think i lost my way to the water, but i'm back, i guess." everyone heard this broken and slightly depressed voice emerging from behind, and everyone turned around to see a mop of red hair.

 

kun knew that this was going to be very complicated to explain.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"hey, sicheng. do you live all alone or with someone?" this was not the first time sicheng had heard this, first it was from taeyong and now it's from ten. "no, i live with my friend, kun." sicheng replied again, a little giggle almost erupting from the déjà vu vibes he got from the conversation.

 

"kun? oh, so he's chinese as well?" there was a sudden hint of excitement in ten's voice, and sicheng was fairly amused. "yeah, last time i checked, he was chinese." sicheng replied with his ugly dry humor ten was very much annoyed by, and he then proceeded to whine about it.

 

they were in dance class and their instructor had given them a few instructions about the welcoming event which was to be held, and which also happened to be the day after and the entire university was buzzing about it.

 

sicheng was too preoccupied with ten to even notice that taeyong was in class, and it kind of hurt taeyong's feelings. his own partner wasn't sparing him a glance? taeyong could just guess sicheng's sports about this event.

 

and after accidentally over-hearing kun's and sicheng's _very_ private conversation, taeyong was mad because sicheng never told him that he and kun shared a relationship which was to be labelled as "a million percent more than friends."

 

but sicheng decided to skip that whole fact and thought it would not affect taeyong at all? what a loser, taeyong shrugged to himself and clearly didn't want his thoughts to be dictated by the chinese man but he couldn't just help but think about that conversation.

 

he knew that they were talking way earlier but all he heard was them telling each other their i love you's and they sounded so genuine, that it kind of bothered taeyong. "hey, do you think kun and sicheng are, you know, not friends?" taeyong asks his boyfriend and best friend after they left their house, and both of the tall men look at him as if he was crazy.

 

"uh, yes? they're hundred percent  _best_ friends?" they weren't quite getting taeyong's point but whatever, taeyong shouldn't care about sicheng's personal business anyways. it's not like sicheng belonged to him or whatever, oh god, he was so stressed. all taeyong needed was hugs and kisses from jaehyun right now.

 

"taeyong and sicheng?" taeyong was forced to snap from his la la land when he heard his name being called out by the teacher, oh and sicheng's too. taeyong, avoiding contact with sicheng even after noticing the boy's polite smile, rushed to the front of the class and stood diligently.

 

sicheng followed and in a few minutes, both of them stood in front of their teacher. "hm, can you both open for the show? like the opening act? or would you prefer to be chosen as the ending? because usually taeyong opens, but we have sicheng too this year, so any advice boys?"

 

before taeyong could open his mouth, sicheng already began speaking on behalf. "sir, i feel like we should be the opening act as it would create a good impression of the audience right from the beginning, as taeyong hyung had choreographed a very graceful dance, too good actually. but that's my input, rest depends on taeyong hyung,"

 

sicheng always knew how to leave taeyong absolutely flabbergasted and taeyong  _hated_ it. "uh, yeah. i agree, yeah?" taeyong managed to speak out some sort of language, and the teacher smiled and clapped his hands to gather the rest of the students' attention.

 

"okay, class! taeyong and sicheng will be opening our show and the rest will receive their lineups shortly, put on a wonderful show people! i know you guys can do it!" the teacher encourages and the rest yell out agreements and praises, it was always a good atmosphere during dance class.

 

soon, the students were busy discussing their performances and the teacher was busy deciding their lineup. "yongie hyung? you haven't spoken to me since yesterday, is something wrong?" taeyong hears sicheng behind him and taeyong really wanted to (i) strangle sicheng (ii) then strangle himself.

 

taeyong turned around to finally notice sicheng, and the poor boy had absolute no idea why taeyong was full-on ignoring him. "i don't know? i'm like not ignoring you? if there is something, then you're the one ignoring me, you idiot!" was what taeyong wanted to say but didn't because he wasn't cruel and didn't want sicheng to think he had issues. which he, by the way, did.

 

"no, sicheng. i'm not ignoring you, just busy." taeyong replied with half a heart because he didn't really want to wear his heart up his sleeve. taeyong didn't dare to look up into sicheng's eyes because wow, taeyong was being such a bad friend.

 

"taeyong hyung, did i do something yesterday? something to upset you?" sicheng gently questioned, his voice so soft that taeyong wanted to cry for absolute no reason. "no, chenggie. it's alright, you didn't do anything. i just slept the wrong side today," a beautiful and believable excuse put forward by lee taeyong !

 

"hm, then i'll try to bring up your mood. want to grab ice-cream during lunch or something?" sicheng offers, knowing very well that no one can resist ice-cream. "as much as i love your company, i don't like ice-cream, sicheng. i'll pass on that offer," another excuse to not hang out with sicheng.

 

taeyong loved it when jaehyun fed him ice-cream, whilst both of them were all cuddled up in soft blankets and star-gazed. he loved it when jaehyun looked at him like taeyong was the only human in this entire universe, he just loved jaehyun so much.

 

 "uh, then it's alright. we'll meet up later for practice, right? i'll do something then!" sicheng cheerfully smiles and claps his hands like an excited kid, and taeyong swore he heard some girls aw over that.

 

sicheng was cute, but taeyong didn't want to catch unnecessary feelings for anyone, especially with a boyfriend as beautiful as jaehyun. if sicheng was just his friend, then he was just his friend. nothing more, nothing less. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"kunnie, can you pick me up today from university? i checked the forecast today and it's going to hail and i don't want to catch a cold, you know," sicheng called up kun during lunch so that the older was informed in advance. "okay, where will you be?"

 

sicheng quickly looked at his schedule and checked his last period. "at the music room," and with that, the phone call ended and sicheng was dragged by ten to their table. "hey sicheng, heard you're opening for day after's show?" yuta asks sicheng as soon as sicheng reaches the table.

 

"yeah, with taeyong hyung!" sicheng perks up and his smile just never leaves, which causes yuta to jump from his seat to just pull the younger's cheek. "ah, you're so cute!" he coos at the chinese and leaves his now-reddened cheek, and sicheng nearly slaps yuta.

 

"hey, ten aren't you participating?" jungwoo asks as ten didn't mention anything about the show and his participation. "i was supposed to but some students were told to pair up with the painting class, and we all know who is in that class."

 

sicheng could see taeil clenching his jaw tight, yuta's smile dropping really quick and jungwoo just looked really mad. "so, i chose to play the grand piano for the show!" ten smiles brightly, and the mood suddenly changed to a happier one.

 

"ah! i'd kill to see you play again, ten." taeil remarks and jungwoo agrees and so does the japanese. "taeil hyung is singing this year with sohlhee, and jungwoo is up with the ice-skating shows," yuta informs and sicheng realizes that this isn't just a dance program, it's everything.

 

and sicheng wanted his and taeyong's routine to be perfect, just like the choreographer.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

kun parked his mercedes near the university entrance but no one was pretty much around, considering the fact that the university hours ended an hour ago. but kun was told to pick sicheng up so he entered anyways.

 

the university was extravagant indeed but kun wasn't impressed because he never really was fond of performing arts, he was a business student. but when he continued to walk down the empty hallways, he realized that the students really had passion for what they did.

 

up came in front of kun was the university guide, which is supposedly to help visitors getting about the university. he quickly located the music room on the guide and started walking towards the room.

 

there was something about the silence— something comfortable and homely. it made kun feel like he was back in china, at the playground near his house during the early hours of the day. it was a really comfortable silence, there was no sound that could be heard.

 

but kun heard only him breathing and it was nothing to out of the ordinary, but it just made kun feel grateful. the gratitude in his veins was equivalent to the number of breaths you take in a day, he was just a very thankful man.

 

thankful for everything he had in life, the people he was surrounded by and how much they loved kun. the silence highlighted the magnificence of kun's existence, and kun found that really calming.

 

his feet didn't stop till they reached to turn the corner of the music room, that's when kun heard something. it was one of kun's most favorite sounds— the piano. the pianist who probably was playing it started off gently, maybe testing the instrument out.

 

kun just stood at the corner, wanting to listen to this stranger. and soon, the comfortable silence was disrupted by a very familiar melody, kun's favorite actually. growing up in a very well-off family, kun was made to learn the piano.

 

to ease his beginner's difficulty, kun's instructor advised the little kun to spend his leisure time listening to classical pieces. so did kun and he's still very fond of classical music. but beethoven was someone kun looked up to as a young pianist, so his pieces remained special to kun.

 

and when kun heard this stranger ever so melodiously play für elise on the piano just had kun's heart. kun could hear the grace the person possessed and the talent this person owned was beyond the limit.

 

note by note, kun started to feel a bit too enthralled by this unknown pianist whom kun didn't know but really wanted to. kun knew für elise belonged to a much of a tragic background story but the way this anonymous angel played it, it seemed like it was a love song.

 

imagine being so invested and in love with your significant other that the rest of the world didn't matter— that's how this pianist made the piece sound like. no matter how much kun would try, whenever someone would play this piece, his heart would flutter at an unprecedented but rapid speed.

 

the melody of the piece caught kun off-guard and he knew he had to verbally appreciate this person. he turned around the corner to discover this huge door, a similar door you'd find in a palace and that's where the music was coming from.

 

kun still moved towards the door, the piece sounded ever so beautiful now to him. he gently pushed open the huge door, which surprisingly didn't make any noise and kun's eyes lay upon the back of a certain individual playing the piano, placed right in the middle of the room.

 

the lights were switched off but there was a window at the right, and just a couple of rays from the cold sun fell upon this piano and the person playing it. the person stopped playing the piece, probably sensing someone's arrival.

 

"continue playing, please." kun's soft voice requested, which may have appealed to this individual because they immediately started playing the piece again. this went on for about ten minutes and the pianist came to a stop, the ending was also just as gentle as the beginning.

 

"here for someone?" this individual spoke and judging the vocal range, kun presumed it was a man speaking to him. "you have got that right, gentleman." if one thing kun really loved about his upbringing was the fluency in his speech, regardless the language he spoke.

 

the man just laughed softly, his laugh echoing through the dark room and he sounded really wonderful. "i was passing by and heard you play a beautiful piece, and let me tell you, you justified the beauty of the piece." kun went on further, the tenderness in his voice not disappearing for a second.

 

"why thank you," the man replies back but then, he moves to face kun forward and by god's magnificence, kun had never seen such a beautiful creature. it looked like the man was intricately carved carefully by god himself, just perfect.

 

a single ray of light shone on the man's face and kun could see the hazel in the man's eyes. almost almond shaped, but with a soft curve that outlined his upper lid, and his irises shone brightly with a warm hazel with specks of blue decorating them. the man had long lashes that gently landed on the man's under eye area when he blinked.

 

the man had almost perfect and milky skin, the softness of the skin very evident. the man had no scars, nothing absolutely on his face which categorized under a blemish or anything which disintegrated the man's beauty.

 

kun then observed the man's plump lips, they were the most beautiful pair kun had ever seen. they were curved into a polite smile and the rosiness and lusciousness of his lips captivated kun. they looked very mesmerizing and kun almost wanted to touch them to confirm their existence.

 

the mop of brown and messy but luscious locks adorned the top of the man's head, and strands of hair covered his forehead and a little section of his eyes. his hair looked soft and fluffy, silky and smooth and kun wanted to run his hands through the man's hair.

 

the man wore a simple white t-shirt and black pants but his physical proportions and figure made his outfit look princely. the man wasn't too short, definitely shorter than kun, but almost the perfect size to look adorable.

 

the way that man looked so tenderly at kun that kun could hear the angels play für elise from the skies in the background, now it felt like a real love song. both of them just continued staring at each other, but at a very large distance away from each other. kun didn't like that.

 

so kun walked closer towards the man, who didn't move even an inch. it was scaring kun, to say the least. someone as beautiful as that man could be an illusion, but kun wouldn't appreciate that.

 

but as kun came closer to the man, the man's eyes sparkled in the sunlight and kun was just pure mesmerized. kun now stood two steps away from being very close to the man, but this time the man stepped two steps forward and by that time, both their hearts were racing.

 

it seemed surreal for the both of them, almost feeling like it's a dream but sometimes, reality seems too good to be true. by now, both the men are very close in distance that even if one leans in by an inch, their noses would be touching.

 

"ten, my name is ten." the man— now named ten— spoke and kun could feel the shorter's minty breath on his face. "and i'm kun, qian kun." kun introduced himself and for a fraction of a second, ten thought he heard the name somewhere but shook the thought off.

 

none of them know what is so entrancing about the other but they couldn't help but feel some sort of electricity between them, it was very naturally dawned upon the both. "please tell me you're not a beautiful fragment of my delusional imagination," ten's voice comes out as a whisper this time, as he slowly raises his hand to caress kun's cheek softly.

 

"i wouldn't wish that i was, because you too indeed, look so unreal and majestic for reality." kun whispers back and ten could almost hear his racing heartbeat, and it was just a matter of seconds when a shimmer of pink was sprinkled onto ten's cheeks.

 

that made kun smile, and once kun did, ten's heart just bloomed like a flower in the sunny meadows during the hours of spring. "you're really such a flower," kun's smile never leaves his face and neither does ten wish so, but seeing kun like that was just so blissful.

 

"i can't believe i met you like ten minutes ago and my heart's already racing," ten laughs and abruptly wraps his arms around kun's waist and hugs him tight and close. "and you're really warm," ten giggles into kun's chest and kun laughs too, wrapping his own arms around ten's petite body.

 

"it feels like a fairy tale, even though i just met you." kun comments and he can feel ten hum into his chest and kun just melts. "you're just like a little baby," kun remarks and ten just continues to smile, "baby ten."

 

ten almost purrs, not just because kun is warm but also because the warmth reminds him so much of his home back in thailand. "you feel like thailand, kun." ten mutters and falls deeper into kun's embrace and kun just accepts whatever he's receiving.

 

"you're thai? that's wonderful," kun remarks because the shorter almost looked chinese to him. "where did you think i was from?" ten inquires, curious to know what kun thought of when he first saw ten. "from heaven,"

 

if it was literally anyone else who said that, ten would've gagged and would've blocked them or something but hearing it from this stranger, it felt good. "hey, kun?" ten again mumbles and kun hums in response. "want to get coffee? i'll pay,"

 

"what gentleman would i be if i don't pay? i will pay, not you." kun firmly disagrees, he doesn't like it one bit when the other person offers to pay for kun, he's loaded for a reason. "you can pay me back later, i wanna be the gentleman!" ten pulls back from the hug and pouts as he whines, and kun just looks very amused. "and how do i pay you back?"

 

"with your very warm hugs!"

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n ; kunten make me emotional and if anyone comments about how it's too early for them to like each other then LEAVE THIS KUNTEN HOUSEHOLD


	8. Chapter 8

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

"uh, so where's kun? it looks like, he's around four hours late?" taeyong awkwardly informs a very worried and agitated sicheng, who is constantly checking his phone for any sign of kun's phone call or text message. "he's so punctual, taeyong! he can't be  _four_ hours late!"

 

"maybe he's caught up in some work—"

 

"what if he's kidnapped? what if they flew from china to get him? he's not even the heir to his parents' company! but i am— oh my, they're onto me! taeyong hyung, call the police right now. kun-ge is kidnapped, i know it!"

 

"why do you always worry about him? is he like your boyfriend or something?" taeyong snaps, absolutely done with sicheng talking about kun when they could be practicing. sicheng looked at taeyong like he was some alien, "kun-ge is my boyfriend?"

 

and then, sicheng bursts out into laughter and this seemed to annoy taeyong even more. "okay, so he's your cousin or brother and i'm misunderstanding stuff? honestly, let's just practice—" taeyong grabs sicheng's and drags him to the wooden floor of the university dance room.

 

"taeyong, kun to me is just like johnny to you. he's my best friend, okay maybe a little more than best friend, okay no. that sounds weird but don't worry, kun-ge is just my best friend." sicheng smiles at taeyong and taeyong's heart just softens at the younger's smile, sicheng is really so naive.

 

"okay then, now let's practice! the show is the day after tomorrow! come on!" taeyong urges as he goes to switch on the music. "ah, hyung! we've been practicing for the past five hours, let's do something else!"

 

"okay. let's do what?" taeyong folds his arms and rests all his weight at one side of his hip, sicheng was probably going to say something like ice-cream and dessert. "let's star gaze, the sky is kind of clear tonight." star gaze? weird but it's something new, so why not? "okay, but only for some time—"

 

"oh my god, okay mother! only for some time then we'll practice!" sicheng whines which makes taeyong laugh because of how adorable sicheng sounded. "okay then, son. let's go to the rooftop, heard it's open or something!"

 

taeyong grabs sicheng's hand and runs out of the room, the cold air tickling both of them, making them giggle and laugh. taeyong's grip around sicheng's hand never wavers as they make their way up the stairs, almost like taeyong's afraid that sicheng will leave.

 

and sicheng wasn't complaining, even if heart was fluttering and taeyong's smile looked so pure, it just felt nice that someone was holding you up. the boys stop at the door to the rooftop and taeyong leaves sicheng's hand to push open the door, and when he does, the starry sky falls upon their sight like a blanket.

 

even if it was a polluted city were living in, the stars were seen some days and today was one of those days. they twinkled bright and looked like diamonds embedded on a black canvas, they looked too royal. taeyong felt absolutely compelled to appreciate those diamonds, and regretted not doing this earlier.

 

"they are so pretty, right?" taeyong hears sicheng say but both their gazes were upon the sky, the scenery in front of them was just too prepossessing to look away from. "mhm, so pretty." taeyong exhales and his smile is unceasable.

 

"i learned astronomy, you know. some of it, not all of it." this causes taeyong to look at sicheng with a perplexed expression, like he was very confused as to what sicheng said. "study of celestial objects, but i was focused on stars more."

 

taeyong was interested in this astronomy thing, he's never heard of it before but he'd like to know more. "that's, uh, cool. i've never heard about it before, tell me more?" sicheng was in awe, no one ever asked him to teach them about what sicheng enjoyed learning.

 

"are you sure? there's lots of mathematics, physics, chemistry—" sicheng could then see the hesitation on taeyong's face and chuckled, "okay, let's start with the non-mathematical parts? constellations and something more maybe?"

 

taeyong smiled and that's all sicheng needed as an answer. "but how come you've never heard of astronomy? aren't you pretty well-versed in everything?" sicheng inquires but he is not confident in his question, after all, it was based on a rumor that taeyong knows about everything.

 

"nah, i don't know stuff about mathematics and that. i know more of other emotions, like maybe,  _love_?" taeyong answers and catches sicheng off-guard, taeyong knew about love and those uncomfortable emotions that made sicheng want to cry?

 

"you know stuff about love? really, like you know how it works and functions?" sicheng sees how taeyong's face scrunches up in disappointment when sicheng objectifies love as a machine. sheepishly running his hand over his nape, sicheng flashes a small smile. "sorry, i don't know much about love."

 

it takes taeyong a few moments to react to what sicheng told him, but a few minutes later, his face brightens up just like a star in the sky. "okay okay, i have a deal." taeyong comes closer to sicheng and whispers as if he's selling sicheng drugs and illegal matter.

 

sicheng stifles a chuckle at the older's goofiness but plays along, "okay, what's the deal?" taeyong gives sicheng the brightest smile before sicheng notices that his eyes are literally twinkling too, like the stars. "i'll teach you about love and you teach me astronomy, deal?"

 

taeyong extends his arm forward and sicheng considers the deal for about a quarter of a second before immediately agreeing, extending his arm to firmly shake taeyong's hand. "deal, yongie hyung." sicheng smiles and so does taeyong and sicheng could feel his heart almost pausing.

 

the stars shone even brighter and the clouds cleared their way for the peaceful moon to rule the night sky. just like how sicheng cleared his heart so that taeyong could rule his heart, and at this point, sicheng didn't care whether or not taeyong had jaehyun.

 

he really liked taeyong's company and even if it meant that taeyong would never like him back, sicheng just wanted him around. maybe if sicheng learned more about the thing he feared, maybe his heart will soften and finally accept the fact.

 

_accept the fact that taeyong is the brightest star sicheng has ever seen in his entire life._

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

kun was obviously carried away— he had an amazing sky, amazing food and the most important, an amazing individual next to him. "so, now that i have told you almost everything about me, tell me about yourself." ten's tender grip around kun's arm as they strolled around the park made kun just very happy.

 

"i'm not very interesting, ten. just all you need to know is that i'm not a serial killer," kun broke out into a soft smile as ten whined upon receiving such a dry response. "but you're very interesting to me, kun!"

 

kun blushed and ten definitely noticed and teased about it till kun finally caved in. but he wasn't going to tell ten about sicheng, not now. "okay, i'm qian kun and i'm from fujian, china. i studied business and i look forward to take up a position—"

 

"oh my god, kun! that's boring boring and study study, i know you're smart and intelligent! tell me what you like so that i can buy you that!" at this point, anyone would've deemed ten as an annoying brat but kun continued to smile. "i like airplanes."

 

"uh, do you have something else you like that will not cost my entire life plus another ten million?" kun laughed warmly and wrapped his arm, which was around ten's arm, around ten's waist. "i like um,"

 

ten looked at kun in extreme hope that kun wouldn't say something like gucci because ten wasn't loaded, he can barely breathe so there is no way he can earn money, let alone spend. "you like?" ten repeated, hoping that kun would say something like chocolate because ten really wanted to get kun something, but  _affordable_.

 

 "i like you."

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**


	9. Chapter 9

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"love, you know, is the emotion of absolutely submitting yourself to your lover— keeping in mind your comfort level. it's the emotion of immense reverence for your lover, to such an extent where just their name will make your heart flutter,"

 

sicheng just heard taeyong speak so fondly about love was so mesmerizing, taeyong had a beautiful smile on his face as he spoke. sicheng didn't even realize that taeyong's words and smile had made him smile, but it felt nice.

 

the starry night that enveloped the two males and the moonlight that shone on them, it almost retracted all their fatigue. the atmosphere was so comforting and soothing that it didn't even feel like they practiced for so long.

 

"do you feel like this around jaehyun?" sicheng abruptly interrupts and taeyong almost instantly broke out into a lovely smile. "yes, he's my everything and more." seeing taeyong so happy made sicheng very content, maybe he didn't like taeyong. maybe he just wanted to see him happy. 

 

"have you ever been in love, sicheng?" taeyong inquires about a question that was lingering at the back of his head but after seeing sicheng visibly pale made him regret asking. "uh, i used to like— no no, downright in love with him."

 

"but he told me that he liked someone else and that i was a nuisance in his relationship with his other partner," sicheng looked rather troubled when he spoke, "and i didn't even do anything to his relationship! i just told him that i loved him so it wouldn't be awkward,"

 

"but he just shut me away," seeing sicheng pout so sadly just disheartened taeyong, he didn't like it when his friends were sad. "aw, it's okay! you'll find someone else here then!" taeyong tried to cheer up the mood but it didn't work, so sicheng turned to taeyong to glare at him but seeing the pink-haired so jolly, sicheng smiled.

 

"you really are something else, yongie hyung." sicheng muttered to himself as taeyong returned to watch the bright moon in the sky. taeyong was so pure hearted and such an overall wonderful friend, sicheng really looks forward to be with him more often.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"hey, johnny? did you see taeyong around? i searched the entire backstage for him, but he wasn't there!" a very worried jaehyun asks johnny, who was very busy scrolling aimlessly through aesthetic photographs on instagram. "oh, that's funny! he was looking for you as well!"

 

jaehyun frowned at how fate wasn't allowing him to meet his beloved, and johnny just chuckled. "cheer up, lover boy. i saw him near the makeup station!" and with that, jaehyun took off to find his baby. "and be careful, his clothing is expensive! don't rip it off of him because he looks hot!"

 

jaehyun decided to ignore that last statement from johnny and proceeded towards the makeup station, where all the performers were getting ready for the year's opening event. jaehyun scanned over the huge crowd of people he didn't really care about and his eyes stopped at his prince.

 

taeyong was laughing at something sicheng told him, who stood in front of him, and that made jaehyun very happy. his boyfriend was finally making friends and that was more than enough for jaehyun.

 

after assuming bad stuff about sicheng ( which proved to be false ), jaehyun decided he would not even try to intervene in taeyong's and sicheng's friendship. he trusted them both, and jaehyun doesn't want taeyong to limit his social circle to just him and johnny.

 

jaehyun loves it when taeyong opens up to people other than him and johnny and seeing taeyong so comfortable with sicheng was very refreshing. "baby, what's up? and hello to you too, sicheng! both of you look wonderful!" jaehyun compliments the dancers and they smile in gratitude.

 

if jaehyun wasn't wrong, they were performing on a piano piece because they didn't want to lose the class of the event. they were clothing that is worn by the princes and their makeup was justified with the theme. "i'll grab my other friend, see you both later!"

 

and with that, sicheng excuses himself and the two lovers just look at each other with love in their soft gaze. "you look beautiful today, hyung." jaehyun crouches to sit on one knee as taeyong was seated, so jaehyun sat down to match taeyong's level.

 

"and you do too," taeyong's smile looked so genuine and pure that jaehyun wanted to do nothing but embrace the older in his arms. "but i am not wearing anything extravagant." jaehyun remarks, he wasn't even wearing makeup and all nor wore clothing like taeyong.

 

jaehyun watches as taeyong leans and presses a soft kiss onto his lips and jaehyun smiles. "you will always look pretty to me, no matter what you wear." jaehyun could hear his heartbeat fasten and his cheeks reddening but he hid his blush by kissing taeyong again.

 

"oh lord, what is going on here?" the couple hear someone behind them and they look around to find johnny standing there with his camera. "why do you have a camera, john?" jaehyun positions himself right, stepping away from taeyong to look like they weren't kissing or anything.

 

"you know i used to be in the photography class, right? so, the professor asked me to snap some pictures of the event." johnny informs and taeyong realizes that if johnny is working with the photography class, he will have to work with  _him_. 

 

"are you sure you want to work for the photography class? there are some people around there—" taeyong was interrupted with someone loudly entering backstage and everyone's eyes fall onto this individual,  _ten chittaphon_.

 

taeyong could see johnny froze in his spot but ten didn't seem to have noticed johnny's existence. taeyong saw how johnny's jaw dropped when he saw sicheng run to ten to hug him, and followed sicheng was a guy, taeyong thinks, named yuta.

 

"sicheng is friends with him? what the actual fuck," johnny turns around with disappointment smeared across his face and jaehyun pats johnny's back, reassuringly. "it's okay, john. it's not like he's going to come up to you and say h— "

 

"um, johnny suh? professor said that you're partnering with me," ten suddenly appears out of nowhere and johnny just looks very startled, and when the fuck did the professor say this? "o-oh, th-that's alright, uh— i have to use the bathroom now so you can get your camera?"

 

and saying that johnny ran away and taeyong could see ten's lips curve into a mischievous smirk and ten turns to face taeyong and jaehyun and gives the a tight-lipped smile before scurrying off to his other friends.

 

"well, that was really shit." jaehyun muttered and taeyong hummed in agreement with his head tilted sideways, and both of them have stoic expressions. "this is going to be very interesting to watch, i'm anticipating."

 

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**


	10. Chapter 10

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"everybody, welcome to the annual opening event of this prestigious institute! this year's theme is la royauté!" jaehyun hears the anchor of the show say on the grand podium, and everyone's attention is diverted to the grand stage.

 

byun baekhyun, jaehyun thinks, was the show's host and also one of the popular boys. baekhyun's also graduating this year with honors in vocal indoctrination, which was very remarkable. 

 

jaehyun was obviously very lonely, all his actual friends were participating in the show so he stood by the corner, sipping some liquid he found on the food tables. was it drugged? maybe but jaehyun couldn't help but not give a damn.

 

he was very excited to his baby perform, even though jaehyun sees taeyong open for this annual show every year, it's always the same adrenaline pumps through jaehyun's veins when he waits for them to announce taeyong's name on the microphone.

 

even though taeyong is older than him, jaehyun finds it a duty dawned upon him to protect and love this little man. jaehyun was absolutely and terribly in love with taeyong, and he would do anything for the older's happiness.

 

they both have been together for around five years and jaehyun doesn't want to let go of taeyong ever, taeyong was the motivation that helped jaehyun live each day. though jaehyun's popularity would get him someone else but taeyong was whom jaehyun wanted to spend his everyday with.

 

the importance taeyong had in jaehyun's life cannot be put in words— it's beyond literature to express jaehyun's emotions regarding taeyong. saying taeyong is jaehyun's oxygen is not enough— taeyong is jaehyun's sun, moon, wind and sky.

 

taeyong just lifts his mood up anytime and just looking at the older's smile, the fatigue in jaehyun's everyday body just vanishes. without taeyong, jaehyun is like the grey sky with the sun hiding away in jaehyun's insecurities.

 

taeyong is not a lover who loves jaehyun, he's someone who teaches jaehyun how to live and exist in such a world. it is always a relief for jaehyun that if he takes the wrong step, taeyong will gently pull him back and never his hand.

 

taeyong is that angel that guides jaehyun to the gateway to heaven, taeyong is someone who jaehyun would never want to lose. jaehyun wants to see taeyong smile and laugh everyday, jaehyun wants taeyong to experience the same happiness he gave jaehyun.

 

"our opening act is as always going to impress you to your very core, please welcome dong sicheng and lee taeyong!" baekhyun announces and the crowd loudly applauses for the duo, but jaehyun can see the old rumors come back to life.

 

but he trusts sicheng and taeyong so he wasn't that affected, he just clapped for the love of his life. the moment taeyong stepped on the stage, jaehyun saw how taeyong's eyes were rapidly scanning the whole crowd to find someone and jaehyun smiled.

 

it was nice knowing that you're the only one in someone's life, you're the only one they would look out for. and soon, taeyong's eyes meet jaehyun's and the younger breaks out into an even brighter smile.

 

but jaehyun stopped smiling as soon as he saw taeyong's eyes— it didn't have the same sparkle like usual. taeyong didn't look at jaehyun like before, like how he usually does but why was that? jaehyun let this irrational fear grow in him, it slowly swallowing jaehyun part by part.

 

but jaehyun knows taeyong well, he loves taeyong a little too much and so does taeyong. there is no way taeyong's feelings for jaehyun lessened, jaehyun was being too paranoid. jaehyun saw the lights were darkened and soon, taeyong's and sicheng's performance began.

 

they both were graceful and glided gently across the stage like the professionals they seemed. taeyong was undoubtedly one of the best dancers in the entire institute and it looked like sicheng was close up.

 

the choreography was absolutely breathtaking and so was taeyong, but jaehyun's heart ached. it ached when taeyong would send sicheng one of those bright smiles only jaehyun knew about, it ached when taeyong gently grabbed sicheng's hand with utmost care like sicheng was glass.

 

jaehyun trusted both of them, but that undeniable pain that lingered in his heart was slowly starting to hurt even more. the performance was soon over, and everyone applauded for the wonderful duo but jaehyun had to hold himself back when taeyong hugged sicheng as tight as possible when they got off-stage.

 

jaehyun stayed at the back of the hall, waiting for taeyong to come to him and kiss him but a nice hour had passed and taeyong was nowhere to be seen. jaehyun painfully sat there, giving bystanders a tight-lipped smile as greeting.

 

jaehyun's tight and angered grip around his drink was loosening due to the deterioration of jaehyun's hope. taeyong has other people to be around, jaehyun tried to convince himself but the thought that taeyong always came running to jaehyun after his performance was engulfing jaehyun's sanity.

 

jaehyun was really overreacting, he shouldn't be so delirious. taeyong would never abandon jaehyun like that, of course not. after another painful half an hour, jaehyun finally spotted taeyong somewhere in the crowd with sicheng and the euphoria that filled jaehyun was indescribable.

 

but taeyong was just casually chatting away with sicheng, as they both watched the ice-skaters take their positions in the ice rink for their performance. maybe taeyong didn't notice jaehyun or maybe forgot about him, it's alright though.

 

the smile on taeyong's face was enough for jaehyun's satisfaction— if taeyong is happy then jaehyun is too. but jaehyun couldn't help but imagine worst case scenarios with their relationship, it scared him a lot.

 

jaehyun wasn't an insecure person but when it came to him and taeyong, jaehyun would always worry and panic. but taeyong would always be next to him and hold jaehyun close, telling him that everything is fine and that taeyong loves him a lot.

 

but taeyong wasn't here with jaehyun this time and jaehyun didn't know what to do, he never imagined this scenario without taeyong. jaehyun had this faith that taeyong would always be with him during his tough times, but taeyong didn't even spare a glance.

 

johnny was busy with work and the others were busy with something else and jaehyun sat at the back all alone, still waiting. waiting for taeyong to run to him and kiss him, and then jaehyun would tell him how wonderful his performance was.

 

but the time never stopped racing and taeyong just looked so busy talking to sicheng, and no one else. taeyong looked so interested in what sicheng was telling him and not that it was a problem, it just added to jaehyun's irrational fear.

 

_his irrational fear of losing taeyong._

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lot of people will be confused as to why this whole chapter was about jaehyun, and it is because you all get an insight of jaehyun and his feelings for taeyong and how important taeyong is to jaehyun and how jaehyun would do anything for taeyong's happiness.
> 
> it's important to remember to further understand the upcoming events and plot.


	11. Chapter 11

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

everything was so perfect, sicheng was enjoying everything and everyone around him. the starry night and the bright moon and this whole event just was going so well. taeyong was talking to him and so was the gang, and sicheng couldn't ask for more.

 

these two months at the institute were marvelous and sicheng wasn't regretting it even a bit. probably going to be the best time of his life.

 

**WRONG.**

 

sicheng glanced up at taeyong and saw how taeyong observed the ice-skaters with so much concentration, he looked absolutely perfect. sicheng smiled to himself and sipped his drink, and then his gaze fell upon the earring taeyong was wearing. taeyong told him that jaehyun gifted—

 

 _jaehyun_ , where was he? he was attending today's show, so why was he not seen around? why didn't he come for taeyong? judging their relationship, jaehyun seems like he always would congratulate taeyong for his performance.

 

 _taeyong_ , why didn't he go to jaehyun? taeyong knows jaehyun is here, so why isn't he excusing himself to meet jaehyun? they weren't definitely fighting, they just kissed at the beginning of the event. why wasn't taeyong bothered by jaehyun's absence?

 

sicheng looked at taeyong again to scan for any odd emotion and nothing, taeyong seemed almost unbothered. something seemed so off, it was very evident in the atmosphere. "excuse me," sicheng excused himself to find jaehyun and taeyong didn't respond, he didn't even get a hint.

 

sicheng carefully placed the glass on the table, and rushed through the humanity in the hall. sicheng's eyes wandered everywhere but jaehyun wasn't anywhere and sicheng was getting a bit scared.

 

soon, sicheng found himself standing in front of the institute exit and without any hesitation, he exited the building and entered the institute gardens. no one was around and sicheng was getting a really bad feeling, it was scaring him too much.

 

sicheng searched the whole garden but found no one but when he reached the rose bed, he saw someone sitting on the bench with a bunch of something in their hand. sicheng moved a little closer and behold, it was jaehyun himself.

 

in his hand was a bunch of roses, thorny roses that were piercing jaehyun's skin and the red blood overflowed. sicheng's eyes widened and he ran to jaehyun but jaehyun saw sicheng and motioned him to stand wherever he was, which sicheng did.

 

"jaehyun, what are you doing? your hand is bleeding! throw away those roses!" sicheng yelled but jaehyun continued to stare at sicheng with the same stoic expression. it didn't even look like jaehyun was in pain, but one glance at jaehyun's hand, you'd really get worried.

 

at this point, blood was dripping from jaehyun's hand onto the grass. jaehyun moved towards sicheng and stood right in front of him with a very depressing smile. he forwarded his bloody hand and the roses, "give this to taeyong, okay? tell him that he was marvelous onstage and that i really loved it. i'll leave now."

 

sicheng took the bunch from jaehyun's bloody hand and sicheng saw how all the thorns were stuck his palm— almost like he didn't want taeyong to be pricked. sicheng didn't stop jaehyun when jaehyun proceeded to leave the campus, and walk to god knows where.

 

sicheng glanced at the bunch and saw how the stems were covered in jaehyun's blood and stained sicheng's hand. the blood was bright under the moonlight and sicheng looked at the gate and jaehyun wasn't there.

 

sicheng turned around and walked inside the campus building, the blood dripping down onto the floor and leaving a trail behind. sicheng held absolute no expression— too traumatized to express any emotion.

 

he reached the hall where the event was still continuing and he slowly walked back to the table where he and taeyong were sitting. the pink-haired was still there and sicheng finally reached and taeyong turned around because of the shadow.

 

"jaehyun gave t-this to you," sicheng forwarded his bloody hand to present the thornless roses and taeyong looked at sicheng in fear. it deeply shook sicheng when he saw no sparkle in taeyong's eyes when sicheng mentioned jaehyun.

 

"sicheng, are you alright? your hand is all bleeding, oh lord!" taeyong hurriedly removes a piece of cloth from his pocket and begins wiping the blood off sicheng's hand. "it's not m-my blood, it's j-jaehyun's—"

 

" _just stop talking about jaehyun! god! let me wipe the blood, okay? you're my first priority now, okay?_ "

 

sicheng stared at taeyong in shock, and retracted his hand back. "sicheng! what are you doing? give me your hand!" but sicheng didn't follow taeyong, he just threw the roses at taeyong and left the hall quietly but in utter shock.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

nothing happened to sicheng's hand and yet taeyong was so worried but when sicheng told taeyong about jaehyun actually being the injured one, taeyong told him to shut up. there was so much wrong with that, sicheng couldn't get it off his head.

 

he lay motionless on his bed, wondering about whatever that happened. kun asked sicheng why he was home early but sicheng just lied and said he was not feeling well. he couldn't tell kun anything about this, he had to solve this by himself.

 

sicheng should be happy that taeyong doesn't seem to care about jaehyun but sicheng now, he should be happy because maybe he does have a chance now. but he isn't happy, he's very bothered and troubled.

 

he uncomfortably shifts around his bed, sleep was just not dawning upon him. he turned to his side and grabbed his phone and switched it on. forty three messages and seven missed calls from taeyong and one voicemail from jaehyun.

 

sicheng tensed up when he saw that voicemail notification, but he pressed it regardless. sicheng was nervous as to what he was going to hear but he just hoped it was just jaehyun telling sicheng that he was fine.

 

" _do you think taeyong still loves me?_  " 

 

and sicheng grew tensed up again— that was all he said and he sounded so broken and torn. and what scared sicheng even more was that he didn't have an answer to jaehyun's question, everything that happened that evening wasn't getting processed by sicheng.

 

sicheng bolted up and dialed jaehyun up and waited for him to answer. he waited and waited, fourteenth ring and sicheng gave up. jaehyun wasn't picking up and sicheng was feeling nauseous. 

 

kun wasn't home because he was going out to meet someone, so sicheng was alone at home. he decided to call ten to ask if taeyong was still there at the venue and turns out that ten also left the venue to meet someone else but the last time ten saw taeyong, he was still there at the venue.

 

there was something so wrong going on and sicheng didn't like it at all, he was afraid of what was going to happen in the future and he knew that it wasn't bright at all.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**


	12. Chapter 12

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

taeyong didn't leave till the entire program was over, it was around ten o' clock when he left. "yongie! where's hyun? i need to speak to him?" johnny appears out of nowhere as taeyong exits the hall room and taeyong just nods his head, "i don't really know. i didn't see him at all."

 

johnny knew there was something wrong— jaehyun could not have left without taeyong and taeyong isn't bothered either. "i'll, uh, catch you later. i have, someone to meet." and johnny rushes out the hall, practically runs out and taeyong remains confused. 

 

taeyong awkwardly smiles and slowly walks out of the hall, hands behind his back and head hung low. a guilt or something of that sort started to grow in his heart, and taeyong didn't even know why he felt guilty.

 

 _the roses_ , taeyong's mind went back to the roses sicheng gave him and he realized that he had left them in the hall, so he turned around to get the roses and when he reached his seat, a lot of people had already left.

 

so it was basically just taeyong and the roses now. taeyong located the roses on the table, still covered in blood. taeyong sighed as he picked them up and the blood stained his hands too, but not as much. but there was a lot of blood stuck onto the stems.

 

_"it's not m-my blood, it's j-jaehyun's—"  
_

 

taeyong's eyes widened as he remembered what sicheng earlier told him, and how taeyong brutally ignored that statement. "jaehyun," taeyong whispered to himself, and looked around to find him. but his lover was nowhere to be found.

 

but for some reason, taeyong didn't really want to find jaehyun. and it was scaring taeyong, he didn't feel like this before. then, why all of a sudden?

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"sicheng, you haven't gotten out of bed the whole day! if it's sunday, it doesn't mean that you don't get out of your bed!" kun scolds the younger but sicheng just zones out, he cannot focus at all.

 

"oh lord, sicheng? are you even listening to me? oh right, you never do! i try my best to take care of you and you—" no, sicheng has to talk to jaehyun. there is something going on and sicheng needs to know what.

 

sicheng abruptly pushes the covers off himself and gets up from his bed and leaves the room without even acknowledging kun's presence. "sicheng! where are you going?" kun yells but sicheng brutally ignores and shuts the door.

 

kun plops onto the bed, sighing and slouching. sicheng seems so off and usually he tells kun about his problems, but what's up now? kun's phone rings and kun removes the electronic from his pocket, just to smile at the caller's id.

 

"yes, baby? do you need something?" kun sounded strained and he knows that ten's going to scold him for being so tired and not resting at all. "kun-kun! how many hours did you sleep today?" there we go, kun knew it.

 

"listen, baby—"

 

"no, kun! answer me right now! or else forget all movie nights, ice-cream dates, cuddles—" oh, ten was speaking pure torture now. "no, no. i'll tell you but don't be mad. please," now, how is kun going to tell ten he hasn't slept at all for the past two days? "i'll try,"

 

"i haven't actually slept—"

 

"kun-ge, i'm going out for a while! don't bother to call or text or whatever the fuck you usually do!" sicheng yells from the main door and kun wants to kinda cry, sicheng never swears while talking to kun. and he never minds kun's endless calls and texts, what's up with him?

 

"kun, are you... crying?" fuck, kun cannot even sob silently. "no! i'm just—" kun was just really tired and keeping up with sicheng's new behavior was exhausting him to the core, he really wanted to cry now. 

 

"kun-kun, are you okay? be honest," ten sounded so concerned and soft, something sicheng used to be long ago. "i— no." kun gave up, he needed some sort of emotional support if he had to continue like this, his everything wasn't talking to him like before and working from korea for a company in china, and being the heir to it, things weren't bright.

 

"i'm coming, please wait for me. don't do anything, okay? i'll take care of you," and suddenly, only ten existed in the entire world for kun.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

johnny really wasn't enjoying this— jaehyun's been missing for the whole day and nowhere to be seen. johnny's searched the entirety of seoul and jaehyun isn't anywhere and johnny is worrying now.

 

what happened at the event that jaehyun just disappeared? and sicheng hasn't even contacted johnny about anything. everyone at the event saw sicheng throwing the flowers at taeyong, so why wasn't sicheng telling him about it?

 

johnny's even tried calling sicheng but he doesn't want to pick up. johnny is getting fed up at this point. taeyong doesn't even seem to care about jaehyun, let alone himself. johnny doesn't know what's happening between them but whenever they argue, either of them tells johnny about it.

 

johnny  _needed_ to contact sicheng but he didn't know how to. he can't show up his house just like that—  _wait_ , he  _can_ do that. but before that, he should at least inform kun about it. and this is when johnny's cheeks flare up,  _kun_.

 

this stupid little crush johnny has on kun was getting worse, and johnny never had the chance to confront kun about it. not like he's going to do it soon anyways, but it's going to happen someday, right?

 

johnny's finger hovers over kun's contact, re-thinking around hundred times. maybe he should just text him, yeah, that'll be easier. kun wouldn't have to hear johnny's whipped and high-pitched anime girl voice so text sounds  _heavenly_.

 

**JOHNNY ;**

hey, kun !

**JOHNNY ;**

just wondering if i could come over.

**JOHNNY ;**

i really need to talk to you about a lot of things.

**JOHNNY ;**

and sicheng's one of them.

**JOHNNY ;**

or if you don't want me over, we could   
maybe talk at a coffee shop.

**JOHNNY ;**

anyways, see you later <3

 

johnny shouldn't have added that heart, he's so dumb. johnny's hundred percent sure kun thinks johnny's a creep or something and coffee shop? does that sound like a date?  _johnny, your best friend is missing! get over this!_

 

but johnny cannot deny that his heart fluttering, or maybe he's just acting really weird. and look at that, he's smiling like some whipped fool, stupid johnny.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

ten hears kun's phone ding like a hundred times and it's kind of annoying ten now. kun's in the kitchen to get juice so should ten just check who is texting him so much? it's not like he's checking all of kun's messages, so it's fine.

 

ten inches forward to grab kun's phone from the table in front and switches it on. kun doesn't have a password anyways, so it was easy to open up messages. _wait, what in the actual fuck?_  is that johnny texting kun? why the fuck was his ex texting kun?

 

ten reads the texts johnny sent just now and ten confused and definitely, had a lot of questions. number one was why was johnny's number saved as  _johnny <3_ in kun's phone? and number two was how kun knew sicheng?

 

and the most important one was did johnny just ask him out for a date? what the fuck was going on? ten didn't like  _anything_ about this. was kun hiding something from ten that he needed to know? but why would kun do hide something from ten?

 

and what was going on between johnny and kun? why was johnny talking to kun like they're very close to each other? ten didn't like this at all, he needed answers right now. switching off kun's phone, he gets up from the sofa and goes to the kitchen, where he found kun filling two glasses with juice.

 

"hey, kun." kun looked up to find ten standing in front but he wasn't smiling, at all. kun furrowed his eyebrows but smiled anyways, "what's up?" kun resumes his work and goes to put the juice back in the refrigerator.

 

"did you know that johnny is my ex and sicheng is my very good friend?" kun froze in his tracks, but he doesn't dare to turn around to face ten. "so, kun." kun hears ten's footsteps reaching right behind him, he didn't like this.

 

"how do you know them?"

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**


	13. Chapter 13

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

sicheng tried to call jaehyun, but he wasn't answering. sicheng tried to look everywhere for jaehyun, the beaches, the corniches, everywhere. but jaehyun wasn't anywhere and seoul suddenly felt too small.

 

the question sicheng was asked by jaehyun, it was echoing in his mind. a while back, it would sound so stupid. the answer would always be yes, but now? it seemed open-ended like. the question was so goddamn stupid but the answer seemed changing every second.

 

taeyong, maybe sicheng should go to taeyong. maybe jaehyun returned to taeyong, yeah. that seems it. sicheng hires a cab then, and he's now onto the road to taeyong's apartment. the guilt in his heart that  _maybe_ it's because of sicheng that jaehyun's feeling insecure, that guilt was eating him up.

 

did sicheng like taeyong? that self-produced question caught sicheng off-guard. did he actually like him or was it infatuation? the more sicheng's mind would agree with the infatuation, the double would sicheng's heart call it love.

 

 two months sicheng spent with taeyong and sicheng wasn't going to lie, it were the best months of his life. those weeks they spent together, talking about stars and love. it did leave a deep impact on sicheng, a very deep one.

 

sicheng noticed everything about taeyong— his little giggles, his graceful smile, his lovely hugs and the most comfortable company he gave sicheng. it made sicheng feel warm, now that he thinks about it.

 

how taeyong was always his first priority and how only taeyong mattered to sicheng, it was kind of making sense now. after those love lessons taeyong gave him, sicheng was able to piece something together.

 

_sicheng loved taeyong._

 

it was already called by his inner conscience but to the rational sicheng, it was a shock. the way sicheng would unknowingly look at taeyong and later would scold himself for doing so, that gaze was filled with immense love and care, now that sicheng reminisces.

 

the way sicheng would hold taeyong's had with such gentleness, like taeyong was so fragile. all these thoughts dwindled upon sicheng and no matter how much his mind tried to deny it, his heart always came upon the conclusion of love.

 

this wasn't the right time to realize this— sicheng thinks. and it actually wasn't, now sicheng knows that jaehyun felt insecure because of him. that added onto the guilt that resided in sicheng's heart.

 

and by the time the driver dropped off sicheng at taeyong's building, he was a teary mess. the tears were blinding his vision as he tried to reach the elevator, as his mind raced back to that time sicheng stayed over at taeyong's place.

 

sicheng saw how much taeyong changed when he was surrounded by memories that mattered to him, and sicheng liked that about him. sicheng entered the elevator, tears rushing down his cheeks just like the rain down the now-cloudy sky.

 

sicheng turned around to face the mirror and looked at himself. in the mirror, sicheng saw this young, broken individual with guilt so obviously painted across his face. and when sicheng had to come to the terms that the young, broken individual was him, it broke him down even more.

 

soon, the elevator stopped at taeyong's floor and sicheng exited the elevator. he hung his head low, not being able to face the reality that was plastered all around him. he didn't try to wipe his tears, he thought he deserved it.

 

he walked down to the apartment where taeyong resided and when he reached the doorstep, he wanted to leave immediately. but no, he knocked on the door and waited. waited for his life to be ruined.

 

and the door opened soon, to the face of sicheng's worst nightmare. "sicheng? wait, are you crying?" that voice that oh so sweetly called out for him, it was breaking sicheng so much. "sicheng, come inside right now. i'll get some coffee," taeyong spoke again but this time, he caught sicheng's wrist and pulled him inside.

 

sicheng almost wanted to wail at how his heart fluttered when taeyong touched him— jaehyun was missing and this is what sicheng was feeling about his boyfriend. sicheng didn't move from the doorway as taeyong ran to the kitchen to get him coffee.

 

strands of sicheng's golden hair covered his guilt-filled eyes, he loved taeyong and no matter how much he denied it, he still did love him. "here, cheng." taeyong runs back to sicheng with a warm cup of coffee, and offers it.

 

"please," sicheng whispers, taking a step away from taeyong. the pink-haired looked confused but took a step forward, wanting to offer the cup to the now-trembling sicheng. "sicheng, are you cold? do you need something?" taeyong steps even closer to sicheng but he just backs away.

 

"taeyong, please just—" sicheng backs away even more and his back hits the door, and taeyong remains confused still. "please just  _what_ , sicheng?" taeyong just wants an answer and sicheng isn't giving him one.

 

_please just stop acting like you reciprocate my feelings and go back to your boyfriend._

 

sicheng's head was hung low like before and he lets out a sigh. he blinks away his tears and looks up at taeyong, moving his hair from his eyes to get a better look. and there taeyong stood, a very peculiar expression on his face.

 

"please just— give me that glass," sicheng grabs the cup from taeyong's hand and sips the coffee, the warm liquid making his shivering insides better. sicheng doesn't notice when taeyong stands right in front of him, gazing at him with such care.

 

but when sicheng looks up into those soft eyes—  his heart races once again. he hurriedly places the cup onto the nearest table and rushes to the kitchen, any place where he doesn't have to see those beautiful eyes.

 

"sicheng, what's wrong? you've been acting weird ever since those flowers and—"

 

"stop talking about me." that came out so harsh that even sicheng flinched, but he hung his head low once again so that he doesn't see the most beautiful angel sad. he hears taeyong sigh and hears footsteps nearing him.

 

"what did i do? did i hurt you?" the tenderness of taeyong's voice made sicheng want to cry again, he didn't want his heart to be this bruised. "t-taeyong," sicheng couldn't do this, he couldn't live like this.

 

but he will, for the sake of jaehyun's and taeyong's relationship.

 

"i-i want a favor from you," sicheng looks up at taeyong, who looked back at him with the same tenderness that previously, his voice portrayed. "mhm, what do you want?" sicheng had to confirm a lot of things today so will he. 

 

"how do you know if this other p-person is in love with you?"

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

johnny was an impatient puppy— he had to talk to sicheng ( and maybe steal a glance of kun ) now and try to figure out what happened the other day. so, he drove to sicheng's house without waiting for kun's response.

 

maybe he'll stop by the flower shop for a rose to offer kun, oh wait, that'll seem straightforward. maybe a bright sunflower for the bright sun? that seems like a nice idea to johnny. so on the way, he got a sunflower for kun.

 

and what was funny was that the flower did remind johnny of kun, but johnny just blushed it off. he shouldn't act like this when he's going to talk about his missing best friend. _that's so insensitive, johnny._

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"kun, why aren't you answering me?" kun didn't want to answer that, he really didn't want to. if kun spoke about johnny, then he'd have to tell ten about johnny's very obvious crush on him and how kun  _once upon a time_  reciprocated those feelings.

 

and if he spoke about sicheng, then he'd have to tell ten about everything from the beginning. and that includes their kisses and hugs, which kun really doesn't want to give up. "qian kun, is there something you're hiding from me?"

 

kun turns around to face a  _very_ pissed ten, and kun doesn't know what to do. "t-ten, u-uhm." kun could feel his hands almost trembling and his heart wasn't having the time of his life. "yes, kun? please fucking continue,"

 

ten looked and was very pissed— there is no way kun could be hiding something so integral. even if they weren't "dating" dating, ten's clearly in love with kun and ten knows kun reciprocates but now, he having doubts about kun's love for him.

 

"listen ten, do you trust me?" ten almost froze at how  _sad_ kun sounded. ten's anger almost faltered away but he was adamant to get answers. "yes, i do. but my answer might change depending on the answers i'm going to receive,"

 

ten was making this so much harder for kun. with threats so open, kun knows for sure that he's going to receive a cardiac arrest. "baby, please listen as careful as possible and don't misunderstand—"

 

 the doorbell rings, startling both the males but kun more. kun takes the opportunity and makes the dash but ten stops him, and motions that he'll take the door. so, ten moves to the front door and holds the doorknob for a while, he was getting a bad feeling from this.

 

but nonetheless, he opens the door and behold, stood in front of him that bittersweet chapter of his life he never wanted to read again. johnny suh, that man who broke his heart three years ago and stood in front of him with a beautiful sunflower, which he soon hid behind his back.

 

"baby, who is there— oh my fuck," kun rushes behind ten to receive this uncalled surprise that kun doesn't know whether will save him from the load of pressuring questions ten had for him or will add onto it.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**


	14. Chapter 14

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"that's a, weird request." taeyong awkwardly laughs but stops as soon as he sees sicheng's serious expression. "um, if a person prioritizes you over other important people and cares only about you and your happiness,"

 

"when a person looks at you and you can look at the immense amount of love they have for you, when they hold you close to them, when they talk to you with such tenderness, when they treat you like royalty."

 

sicheng didn't want to hear anything anymore, but he did. "when they care only about what you think, when they just are a different person around only you." taeyong stops, not knowing what to say further.

 

"have you felt like this about someone?" sicheng asked with such fear in his voice.  _please say jaehyun, please say jaehyun, please say jaehyun_. sicheng sees how bright taeyong smiles, just like taeyong's whole mood is uplifted.

 

"yeah, about yo—"

 

sicheng had to leave, he couldn't stay anymore without the guilt knocking back on the door again. sicheng abruptly stands from the kitchen counter and without looking at taeyong, he proceeds to rush to the front door.

 

he hears taeyong right behind his trail, "sicheng, where are you going? i'm sorry, just please stay!" sicheng couldn't believe this, his brain wasn't able to process anything that was told to him.

 

he runs outside taeyong's apartment and he hears the door shut close, taeyong doesn't follow him. sicheng's grateful for that, he doesn't think that he can face taeyong for the next millennium after hearing that answer from him.

 

finding jaehyun didn't seem like a good idea to sicheng now. knowing the answer for jaehyun's question, he doesn't want to see jaehyun. he doesn't want to be the bad guy, he doesn't want to steal anyone from anyone.

 

he desperately wants to get away from this entire situation he was surrounded by. whatever manners he was taught, all the ethics and morals. all of them seem washed down by the rain and sicheng suddenly felt lonely.

 

he knows he's been so indifferent to kun, treating him like trash but going back to kun and his arms seemed like the best option right now. so emotions and troubles were pushed aside and a taxi was hired and text messages were sent to taeyong.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"j-johnny? w-what are y-you doing here?" kun tries his best to not sound awkward and somehow handle the situation, he goes in front of ten to talk to the tall male. kun sees how hopeless johnny looks when ten was in front of him, kun didn't want to see johnny like that because for some reason, those buried feelings for johnny were trying to make their way back.

 

johnny never removed that sunflower from his back, he just tucked it away in his back pocket. he couldn't believe this illusion that was thrown in front of him, it seemed so unreal. something johnny never expected in his entire life and neither wanted to be true.

 

johnny could hear his heart crumble a the sight of ten and could hear his entire soul ache when  _kun_ called ten babe. this wasn't happening, there is just no way his crush was in a relationship with his ex. 

 

kun wanted nothing but death, he didn't like the direction of this whole scenario. there could be  _nothing_ worse than this, and kun was sure about that. "k-kun, i-i'm— i'm sorry, i'll just leave." johnny turns around to leave but kun's delirious mind decides to grab johnny's wrist to get him to stay.

 

he doesn't know why he did that but it seemed right, but not so much to ten. "kun, are you  _really_ going to do this? to me?" hearing ten sound so broken and disheartened hurt kun at so many levels. and for some reason, it hurt johnny too. 

 

seeing ten so broken hit home for johnny and he wanted to kneel down and beg ten for forgiveness. to ask ten to forgive him for lying about not loving him. johnny broke up with ten saying that he didn't love ten anymore but he was lying.

 

he was scared of falling totally in love with the thai and looking at ten once again, some of those feelings reawakened. and ten? he was just plain confused as to why his heart was fluttering when he looked at johnny when he had kun right next to him.

 

this was just getting emotionally exhausting for the three of them as each second passes. all three of them just stand in silence, just looking at each other with soft and gentle gazes.

 

"kun-ge, i'm so sorry for everything and you know how much i love you and i swear i'll explain everything later but i just  _need_ your hugs and kisses right now—"

 

sicheng walks in and cue more confusion between all the four. "sicheng?" sicheng hears all the three men ask and sicheng has way too many questions at once. what was ten doing with kun? why is johnny home? and weren't johnny and ten exes? and _oh lord_ —

 

did sicheng just ask kun for  _hugs and kisses_  in front of two people who will hundred percent misunderstand?

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

taeyong doesn't know why he was about to say sicheng's name when sicheng asked him if he loved someone like that. the answer was supposed to be jaehyun but why did taeyong think of sicheng first?

 

why did taeyong feel emotions for sicheng that he previously only felt for jaehyun? why did everything seem to have changed between him and jaehyun? the last time they kissed, taeyong didn't feel those sparks but why?

 

why was all this hitting taeyong now? was there something wrong he did? did their relationship have some translucent fallout? _and where was jaehyun?_  it was not making any sense to taeyong, he needed jaehyun.

 

he ran to his phone to call jaehyun up but sees sicheng's texts, and decides to look at them first. see  _there_ , why was taeyong prioritizing sicheng over his lover? why was taeyong feeling this way? why did it feel so wrong but so right at the same time?

 

**SICHENG ;**

i know you're confused.

**SICHENG ;**

just repeat whatever you told me.

**SICHENG ;**

let's see if romeo understands it.

 

that was all sicheng sent and it confused taeyong even more. "i just told him how to understand if a person loves you—" and that's when it hit romeo that he doesn't love rosaline anymore, but juliet.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**


	15. Chapter 15

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"okay, i have so many questions." sicheng tries to push all the three into the living room, and shuts the door. the three obey silently, taking their respective seats on the couch. sicheng stands in front of the three, who're sitting on one couch.

"i'm going to ask a few questions and you're only going to answer to the question, nothing more okay?" sicheng receives multiple hums and nods, so he continues. "kun-ge, what is ten doing here?" first question fired, and kun tenses up.

"um, we're actually—" kun doesn't know what to call their relationship, they hadn't made anything official so what does he tell? kun feels ten holding his hand and squeezing it gently, kun feeling almost fatigue-less. "we're dating," ten answers on behalf of kun.

sicheng raises an eyebrow and johnny hangs his head down, not knowing how to feel about that. "okay, johnny. what you doing here?" johnny looks up at sicheng, and it scared sicheng because he's never seen johnny so emotionless before.

"i was here to talk to you but then, i met people who i didn't have and want any business with." the transparent harshness that coated johnny's words, kun and ten could almost feel their hearts break into large pieces.

"okay, what did you want to talk about?" sicheng asks johnny and as johnny open his mouth, ten stands up. "okay, that's enough questions from sicheng. now i have questions for you, sicheng. what did you mean by hugs and kisses from kun? and how do you know him?"

sicheng looked at kun and gulped and kun mirrored the action, both of them needed to explain a lot today. "um, kun-ge is my best friend and we're nothing more than that. and the hugs and kisses part," sicheng runs his hand over his nape, he doesn't like talking about it.

"ten, i'll explain it to you myself. don't bother, sicheng." kun holds ten's hand with gentleness and ten automatically breaks out into a smile. "okay, so johnny? want to talk?" sicheng looks over at johnny, and sicheng notices how he's looking at kun and ten, with such a longing gaze.

"johnny?" sicheng calls for him again, a little louder and it grabs his attention. "a-ah, yeah. i'm coming." johnny stands up and sicheng takes him to the kitchen, plopping onto the counter. "i just want to know what happened at the event,"

sicheng nods, swinging his dangling legs. "there is actually a lot of stuff, and that probably is connected to why jaehyun's missing, or at least we think he is." johnny nods at that, he knows that a lot of stuff went down that day.

"i want you guys to hear it from taeyong himself, because i don't know if i'm assuming stuff." now, how does sicheng tell johnny? he looks at johnny, who stares back at him with a curious expression. "i think taeyong doesn't love jaehyun anymore,"

"and jaehyun knows that."

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taeyong's been crying for the past hour, he just doesn't know what is wrong with him. he cannot lose feelings for jaehyun just like that, that isn't possible! jaehyun was the one taeyong was going to marry, how could he lose feelings for jaehyun?

there was something wrong with him, he cannot do this. those texts sicheng sent, he cannot like sicheng. jaehyun was the one for him, but why does his heart seemingly belong to sicheng? how did this man captivate his heart in just two months?

sicheng didn't like taeyong back, that was obvious. the way sicheng pushes him away, the way sicheng looked at him earlier, everything just makes taeyong feel insecure about everything. he felt so alone and deprived, it was hurting him.

it felt like someone forcefully took away taeyong's right to feel emotions, and it didn't feel good. it made taeyong feel so terrible, he couldn't feel emotions like a normal human being without feeling a whole load of guilt thrown at him.

why did sicheng's smile make him happy? why did everything that sicheng did would make taeyong feel so warm? this was everything taeyong felt around jaehyun, but why was taeyong talking about jaehyun in past tense?

was he really that bad and evil that he'll leave the man who made him feel so loved? jaehyun was his first but why was it so hard to call him taeyong's last? taeyong couldn't leave jaehyun like that— that's not happening. that'd be too selfish of him.

and now jaehyun's not around and taeyong just wanted to go to sleep and when he wakes up, his feelings for jaehyun return. taeyong just really wants everything to return to normal— back to when taeyong loved jaehyun and no one else.

sobbing and pathetically crying wasn't going to get taeyong to another conclusion, he felt so hopeless. whenever he thought about jaehyun, he wouldn't feel that happy and it bothered him so much.

taeyong thinks that it's not humanly possible to even lose feelings for someone who has loved you for so long. covering and drowning himself in blankets and insecurities wasn't making taeyong feel better about the situation.

maybe he didn't deserve to be feeling like a normal human, maybe he's that worthless. maybe he shouldn't whine and complain like that, he just deserves everything. losing feelings for someone who has given you so much is just not digestible.

taeyong snaps out of his bubble when he hears his phone ring, he hastily wipes his tears away and clumsily reaches up for his phone. his trembling hands bring the phone up to him, and he looks at the caller's id with his blurry vision.

"jae," taeyong reads off, feeling absolute no emotion when he does. he picks up the call hesitantly, bringing up the phone to his ear. "h-hello?" he stutters, his voice sounding absolutely stressed and broken.

"can you meet me at the sea now?"

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	16. Chapter 16

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

taeyong almost choked when he heard jaehyun— he sounded so, so  _dead_. "o-okay, alright." and the line goes dead, and taeyong sighs. how was he going to face jaehyun? and what is jaehyun going to tell him and oh my god—  _does jaehyun know?_

 

all these troubling and blinding thoughts that clouded taeyong's already exhausted mind while he put on his shoes to leave made him want to stay back but no, he was going. he was going to get this done with and that's final— no more lies and fake feelings.

 

but as he walked to his car, this confident exterior he put up was slowly breaking down and taeyong couldn't do anything about it. he just silently drove to the only sea that jaehyun takes him to, it's a sign of love and compassion, that sea.

 

but taeyong chuckled—  _that's not going to happen tonight_. the moon illuminated taeyong's path to destruction and he just drove, the emotions in him slowly breaking apart from him. taeyong didn't like how nothing meant anything to him, all because of jaehyun.

 

because of that one man who made him feel so good everyday but now, jaehyun was just a mere human to taeyong. he doesn't know how the feelings changed so quick but it did, and taeyong was coming to the terms of accepting it.

 

the drive seemed so short because as soon as taeyong reached the sea, he saw this dark and prominent figure by the corniche. taeyong parked nearby and got out of the car, not ready at all. he walks towards the figure, imagining all the worst case scenarios possible.

 

"you're here," jaehyun sounded soft, contrasting his tone over the phone call. taeyong hummed and stood next to jaehyun, who was staring at the bright moon and taeyong joined. the tension seemed to cease as the two boys just stared at the sky in silence.

 

taeyong was reminded of the astronomy lessons sicheng gave him when he looked at the sky, which were mere excuses to see sicheng happy. taeyong made out a few constellations sicheng taught him about and that eased the nerves of taeyong.

 

"i have just two things to tell you, taeyong." it didn't hurt when jaehyun called taeyong by his name instead of a nickname, it didn't at all. "number one, i'm breaking up with you." as harsh as that statement should sound, jaehyun made sure to be as soft as possible.

 

taeyong smiled in response— a feeling of freedom and joy grew out inside of him. jaehyun glances towards taeyong's smiling face and his wrenches— he doesn't want to leave taeyong. "i know you like sicheng, no. you love him, right?"

 

jaehyun wanted to hide the pain his heart stored, he doesn't want taeyong to feel uncomfortable at all. "so, i won't force you to stay with me. you're not happy with me and i know that, so chase him instead of aimlessly revolving around me."

 

jaehyun didn't want taeyong to look at his shining tears, he just wanted him to be happy. he loved taeyong so goddamn much, just way too much. "you still love me, right? you don't want to let go of me, right?"

 

jaehyun chuckled, tears running down his cheeks. his taeyong— no, just taeyong. taeyong knew him so well, wow. "but you're still letting me go," jaehyun feels taeyong's warm hand hold his cold one, and it just makes him cry even more.

 

"why are you doing this?"

 

"because i love you way too much."

 

a comfortable silence enveloped both under the bright moonlight— two young men who untangled themselves from the mess of a relationship they trapped themselves in. "how did you know i like sicheng?"

 

"you were obvious about it— from the way you looked at him to the way you treated him." jaehyun wanted to stay as calm as possible, he didn't want to cry. "aren't you mad at me?" taeyong's questions never seemed to end but jaehyun was ready to sacrifice the young night to answer them.

 

"hurt? maybe. but mad? at you? never, i can never be mad at you." jaehyun answered with such short answers but the emotion that underlay his tone added to the answer. "i just want you to be happy and that's all that matters,"

 

jaehyun was always like this, lovely and understanding. that's why taeyong fell for him, because jaehyun is perfect. just a bit too perfect for taeyong maybe. "you didn't suspect me of cheating on you?"

 

"huh, that's like saying i suspect the sun for creating rain. it isn't possible at all, i trust you and will forever and i know you aren't like that." taeyong could feel himself crying too, jaehyun was just—

 

"it did kind of hurt me when i realized you loved sicheng, but i knew i had to let you go. because i love you that much," maybe taeyong was crying, actually. "i did feel so insecure about myself, about my love for you. and kept on asking myself just one question,"

 

_"did i not love you enough?"_

 

yeah, taeyong was definitely crying. "and you weren't there to tell me it's okay but it's alright, okay? never ever blame yourself, okay? you're just perfect, maybe not for me but you are. never doubt that. nothing is your fault, it's all mine, okay?" 

 

"j-jaehyun," taeyong couldn't control it anymore, he just couldn't contain so many emotions all at once. "baby, no. don't cry, it's okay. everything is fine, nothing is wrong." jaehyun embraces taeyong in his warm embrace and taeyong just cries out into his chest.

 

it's so funny as to how jaehyun told taeyong that everything is fine but he knows that nothing is going to be fine for him, it's funny because jaehyun just lost his everything. but no matter what, jaehyun wasn't going to stop supporting taeyong and encourage him to take a new step.

 

it's okay if jaehyun wasn't taeyong's beloved anymore, at least he was a happy memory in taeyong's heart. jaehyun had to convince himself first to convince taeyong but he's afraid that might never happen.

 

but jaehyun had to— for taeyong, for the love of his life, for his everything.

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**


	17. Chapter 17

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

"it just feels so empty without you in my arms but, it's okay." jaehyun kissed taeyong's hair softly and gently caressing it, but that doesn't calm the older down. "i'm so sorry, hyun. i didn't mean to not love you anymore—"

 

"ah, baby, sh. it's alright, you don't have to apologize." jaehyun could feel his own heart crumble but he had to stay calm and composed. "b-but h-hyun, i h-hurt you—" jaehyun sighs and gently cups taeyong's face, looking deep into his beautiful eyes.

 

"you can never hurt me, okay? it's not possible, you're way too perfect for that." kissing taeyong's forehead gently, jaehyun breaks away from the hug. he looks back at the bright moon as taeyong tries to silence himself.

 

he didn't want to look like a baby in front of jaehyun, he was a big boy.

 

"h-hyun, why do you still love me? i-i hurt you and all b-but y-you s-still," taeyong wasn't able to breathe with his tears trying to choke him, jaehyun placed his arms on his shoulders. "yong, calm down and breathe."

 

taeyong tries to follow and after a few long breaths, he regains his breathing. "i still love you because you're you, you're taeyong and everyone loves you. i still love you because i'm way too stubborn to not. you're— you're my everything, you know."

 

taeyong nods and looks at the moon's bright self again, mind clouded with thoughts and more thoughts. "you know that no matter whom you love, i will still always be with you? if not as a lover, then maybe as a friend."

 

"i promised you, yongie. that i'll never ever leave your side. and i'm not going to break my promise," jaehyun's smile was small but it was seemingly forced, jaehyun just wanted to cry. "the reason i wanted to break up was that it was getting too hard to breathe."

 

"even if i wanted to, i couldn't possibly tie you down to me. there was just no way so after convincing myself for the hundredth time, i decided to let you go and let you breathe." jaehyun was selfless and taeyong didn't and will never doubt that.

 

taeyong shifted his gaze from the moon to jaehyun's hand, and he saw jaehyun's wounds. he gently held his hand, and jaehyun flinched. taeyong looked at the wounded hand and back at jaehyun, the older's expression was filled with concern.

 

taeyong brings up jaehyun's hand to his lips and places numerous kisses over it— hoping to at least ease the pain. taeyong knew it was a childish method but if it made jaehyun feel better, then he will do it.

 

taeyong pauses and presses a chaste kiss onto the hand once again, when a thought hits him. "you said you had two things to tell me, what's the second one?" jaehyun visibly paled up at that question, but he had to tell taeyong everything.

 

 

"i'm moving to america, away from everyone."

 

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**

 

as sicheng and johnny chatted away in the kitchen, kun and ten were left alone in the living room. kun looked up at ten with afraid eyes but when he saw ten's soft glance looking back at him, fear vanished.

 

"you like johnny, don't you?" if kun had a liquid in his mouth, he would've choked and passed away. what delirious question was that even? just because kun's heart fluttered sometimes he saw johnny, especially now, doesn't mean—

 

"oh," kun verbally expressed his answer, looking away from ten. no, kun couldn't possibly like two people at the same time. kun didn't live in some movie, what was he thinking? "i know you do, kun-kun. don't try to hide it,"

 

well, there goes kun's plans to deny all allegations. "see, tennie. i know he's your ex and all—" ten shushed kun with his finger on kun's lips, "just because he's my ex, doesn't mean anything." kun looked at him with a confused stance.   

 

"see, he broke up with me because he didn't love me anymore. so i just buried away my feelings, i didn't stop liking him." okay, kun understands what ten was getting at. "but he possibly wouldn't like us back!"

 

"baby, are you delusional? have you looked at the way he looks at you? maybe he doesn't like me but," ten got quiet at the last, feeling a bit down. kun pouts a little but crawls onto ten's lap and wraps his arms around the younger.

 

"if he doesn't like you back, then i'll forget all my feelings for him. i wouldn't do anything my tennie wouldn't like, you know how much i love you right?" kun softly murmurs into ten's neck, and ten slowly nods. "i know you do, i know."

 

"um, excuse me—" sicheng coughs a little loudly, separating kun from ten and they sheepishly look up at sicheng. "i'm going out and will be back soon," sicheng quietly walks to the door but before closing it, glances back at the couple.

 

"kun-ge, please do not use my room for your dirty deeds—"

 

"sicheng! leave right now!" a  _very_ flustered kun yells and a certain ten blushes furiously, and sicheng just laughs and shuts the door. "um, i'm s-sorry about sicheng. h-he's just like that," kun turns to ten and apologizes but ten responds with a cheeky smile.

 

"we could also use your room instead," ten snickers and approaches kun and kun laughs, backing away. "maybe later, baby." ten climbs onto kun, pushing kun down onto the ledge of the couch. "no need for later," ten leans in to press a kiss onto kun's lips and kun just allows it.

 

"sicheng, wait up! i need to tell you something—" in comes johnny from the kitchen and witnesses the possible sequel of fifty shades of grey, and immediately shuts up. the caught men look up at johnny, searching for some excuses to make but to their dismay, their position gave their intentions away.

 

and for the nth time, kun pushes ten off of him and sits straight, praying that this doesn't take an awkward turn. ten mimics his lover's actions and stares at the taller male, expression as soft as fluffy clouds when their gazes meet.

 

"want to talk, both of you?"

 

**❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜**


	18. Chapter 18

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sicheng doesn't know why he's such a hypocrite— first he runs away from taeyong and then when taeyong calls, he runs back to him. sicheng almost chuckles but doesn't, it just confirms his insanity.

he just wants to live a normal life as a senior at his university, graduate and get his parents' company handed to him. that's was what his plan— how did taeyong manage to make his way into sicheng's plan?

but who was sicheng to say no to taeyong's pouts, puppy eyes, sweater paws? and just like how the stars followed the moon, sicheng followed taeyong. sicheng was hopeless, but it was too late to recover.

with this heavy heart, sicheng hires a cab to taeyong's apartment and reconsiders all his decisions once again. how was he going to explain this whole situation to jaehyun was his main concern. jaehyun would definitely be beyond angered, and sicheng didn't know if he would even see taeyong after that.

but holding such a big secret in his heart without telling jaehyun was getting a little too much, maybe sicheng should just tell jaehyun everything. maybe the reason taeyong called sicheng over was because he found jaehyun or something, that has to be it.

the walk up to taeyong's apartment was also something sicheng didn't want to do, but had to. sicheng's heart was telling him it's going to be alright but sicheng's brain wasn't buying it. when sicheng reached taeyong's apartment, his heart raced again.

is he going to mess up again? is taeyong going to say something he shouldn't? sicheng had his questions, but he still knocked on the door. and when taeyong opened the door with a smile, sicheng almost felt like crying.

he looked ethereal and more— he changed into a beige oversized sweater with a matching beret— and sicheng couldn't breathe anymore. "come in, sicheng." and that's how sicheng fell for the devil's trap, again.

sicheng walked in, his hands in his pockets. he heard taeyong shut the door and soon, taeyong's hand grabs sicheng and with a jolt, sicheng's thrown onto the couch. "careful, taeyong." sicheng groans in pain, but taeyong doesn't say anything.

he just sits next to sicheng, and sicheng turns to taeyong. both of them just stare in silence till taeyong sighs heavily. "i have something to say," he starts and sicheng just awkwardly nods, what does he have to say?

"okay, i don't know if i can say it. i'll just do it, i guess." sicheng was beyond confused when taeyong caught him by his collar, was taeyong going to kill him or something? okay, maybe going to threaten him or something?

but when taeyong pulled sicheng towards him and planted his soft lips onto sicheng's, the chinese was shook. sicheng's brain wasn't processing anything, but his lips moved in synchronization with taeyong's.

it felt so right, so goddamn right. sicheng's hand pulled onto taeyong's shirt, trying to pull the boy even closer to him, lips not disconnecting even for a bit. the passion they exchanged, the romance that radiated off of them. 

taeyong's lips tasted so wonderful, he tasted like strawberries and cream. sicheng just wanted to kiss him forever and ever. the butterflies and fireworks that erupted in sicheng's stomach when taeyong kissed him were innumerable, and sicheng loved it.

taeyong's lips moved against him ever so softly, so tender and soft. sicheng wanted to devour the older but had to control his sudden rush of emotions. taeyong was just his everything and now he was kissing him. it felt so surreal and magnificent.

they kissed for what seemed like an eternity but an image of jaehyun flashed in sicheng's mind, and his eyes widened. he breaks away from the heated kiss, just to meet a very confused taeyong with such swollen lips.

"j-jaehyun— no, i cannot do this to him." sicheng backed away from taeyong, his heart aching with every inch he went away from taeyong. the korean looked so hurt and confused, but sicheng wasn't going to do this to jaehyun. no matter how much sicheng liked taeyong, he isn't going to break jaehyun's trust like that.

"sicheng, no. please don't leave again," taeyong sounded absolutely ripped, and sicheng just wanted to embrace him and kiss him senseless but he couldn't. "taeyong, are you c-crazy? we cannot do this!" sicheng yells at taeyong, not being able to form sentences.

taeyong comes closer to sicheng, but sicheng just backs away, trembling. sicheng's back hits the ledge of the couch, so taeyong takes advantage of that and crawls onto sicheng's lean body. sicheng doesn't move, he doesn't want to.

taeyong leans till their noses brush against each other's, breathing getting heavy. "tell me, cheng. don't you want me?" the way taeyong said that, so sensual and raw. "t-taeyong," sicheng stutters, getting hypnotized by taeyong's intense gaze.

"mhm, sicheng? i cannot hear you. use your words, baby." taeyong sounded so sinful but sicheng knew he shouldn't agree, they shouldn't do this. "t-taeyong, we c-can't do this! j-jaehyun—"

and before sicheng could complete, taeyong roughly kisses him once again and sicheng loses absolutely all of his five senses. his mind seemed to hazy to speak articulately. how bad does sicheng want this? too bad, but jaehyun's image just flashes across his mind every time.

"j-just forget jaehyun for a while and let me do this, please. i've waited for this for so long," taeyong's heavy breath was felt upon sicheng's face, as he parts away for a second or so. sicheng looks into his eyes and there is a supernova of emotions lacing every spark in taeyong's eyes.

this time, sicheng pulls taeyong onto him, kissing him yet again and they spend a nice half an hour just laying onto each other and kissing. the young boys didn't know when midnight struck, and when their eyes were droopy, but they fell asleep. in each other's arms.

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

"ten, i'm so so sorry for breaking your heart three years ago. i was— i was afraid, afraid of falling too in love with you. i don't know what was going through my head when i told you that i don't love you, i'm so sorry, ten." 

the atmosphere was emotional, ten was on the brink of tears and johnny looked so soft and broken. kun didn't know whom to go to, both of them looked so vulnerable. kun watched as ten broke down into tears and ran to johnny, hugging the taller tightly.

kun smiled in delight, they looked so meant to be. johnny wrapped his arms around the younger's waist, pulling him closer to him. johnny softly murmured strings of apologies into ten's ear as the younger continued crying.

johnny's gaze shifted to kun, who was still having that charming smile on his face. their gazes met and kun almost felt himself melting into the sincerity johnny's amber eyes held, johnny was something else.

even though kun thought he liked johnny for a day, he was quite wrong. now that kun thinks about it, johnny was just so wholesome and lovely. his little and weird antics around kun to hide his obvious crush on always amused him.

ten pulls away from hug and looks at johnny's and kun's gaze exchange, and swooned. the emotion that he could feel between them, it warmed him. he never didn't love johnny and now he also had kun.

he didn't know how this all was going to work out, but ten wanted it to work out. he liked both the males, and he knows that they reciprocated too. it was going to complicated but when was ten's life not?

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜


	19. Chapter 19

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

"lee taeyong and dong sicheng! the performance was splendid and i was really impressed by sicheng's cinematic aura and the way he upheld himself like a professional entertainer!" the dance teacher complimented the chinese, and sicheng blushed out of humbleness.

"thank you, sir. but it's really all taeyong hyung's effort! without his magnificent choreography, i would be like a needle without it's thread!" sicheng drastically improved in his language skills, all thanks to his endless korean lessons and books, that's why he's including metaphors and idioms in his daily speech.

taeyong shakes his head, "oh no, it's all sicheng's hard work. i just merely held his hand for the first step, he ran the rest of the race himself." the teacher smiled at the two, he knew that they both were really wonderful friends.

"well, both of you did splendid and i am just here to guide you. i'll take my leave now, see you next class boys!" the teacher waves at the boys and exits the class, leaving the two boys all alone in the class. the dance teacher had taken a month off after the event so he's acknowledging the two after a month.

"can you, for once, not credit me for something you did yourself?" taeyong shifts closer to sicheng, who smiles at the other. "i didn't do anything by myself—" sicheng was interrupted with ten entering the room, who looks surprised to find the two still in class.

"hello? class is over?" ten reiterates the obvious and taeyong rolls his eyes and walks towards the shorter. "really, ten? we did not know that," taeyong laughs and ten scoffs at the older's useless and unnecessary sarcasm.

"jaehyun's looking for you, by the way. go get your lover," taeyong and sicheng stiffen at the sentence, no one but sicheng knew about their breakup. "a-ah, okay. i'll leave," taeyong avoids eye contact with ten and leaves the class almost immediately.

ten eyes him but looks at a still sicheng and walks towards him, placing his hand on sicheng's shoulder. after about four seconds of violently shaking sicheng, the younger regains his consciousness. "loser, wake up!"

sicheng flinches at the loud tone of the sentence and he glares at ten. "why don't you go fuck johnny or something? or wait for about another two hours and you can fuck my gege, or how about both of them?"

the threesome jokes were very prominent on the tongues of ten's closest friends after announcing his polyamorous relationship with johnny and kun after a whole month of figuring out their feelings for each other. it amused ten rather than offending him, he had two lovely men with him who loved him so much.

"you say that as if it's a bad thing," now, it was ten's turn to laugh and sicheng never felt so lonely. he and taeyong never discussed the topic of dating, it was just little kisses and warm cuddles for now.

it kind of bothered sicheng— sicheng loved the other and it looked like taeyong reciprocated but why wasn't taeyong insinuating anything more? but it's alright, sicheng thinks to himself whenever it bothers him.

he finally has taeyong to himself and nothing matters at all, four months of his last year and everything seems pretty on track. even though the last month was very hectic with taeyong's confused emotions and sicheng's denial, it was working out at the very moment.

nothing should bother him yet everything is, maybe he's just paranoid. "oh and cheng, kun said that he wants to spend tonight with you because he misses you so please don't ditch him for some k-drama."

sicheng softly smiles in response and ten reciprocates ad leaves the class, leaving sicheng all alone. he has around ten minutes for the next class, so he just decides to sit on the teacher's desk and ponder about nothing.

he's bored, very bored. he doesn't have anyone to talk to now and next period is music composition which he doesn't know why he selected but he unfortunately did. maybe he should just ask taeyong for a date or something after school.

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

( a little johnkunten because why not ? )

"so, sicheng ditched me again." kun sighs and hangs his head down, feeling just disappointed. the other two males scurry over to the chinese, wrapping their arms around him. "i'm kind of concerned for sicheng, he just disappears without telling me and with whom is such a mystery." johnny comments and ten agrees, and kun just allows himself to melt into a puddle.

"but i'm supposed to take care of him—"

"no, kun-kun! you're supposed to take care of yourself and us, sicheng knows what he's doing. don't worry much about him," ten lifts kun's head up gently with his forefinger and kisses his forehead, and kun just hums in response.

johnny grabs kun's arm and pulls him onto his lap, and kun just stares at the older. "baby, why do you stress so much? why don't you let me take care of you?" johnny whispers in a very gentle tone, as he places infinite kisses all over kun's face, almost making kun smile.

ten grins at johnny's request and wraps his arm around him, kissing him on the cheek. "yeah, kun-kun. let us take very good care of you," ten climbs onto kun's chest, leaning closer to the chinese with a sultry look and kun wanted to die, not sure if it was positive or negative.

and before you know it, johnny's lifting the smaller by his waist and away from kun. "ten-ah, i did not mean it sexually, i meant it in a soft way!" kun giggles as johnny scolds their youngest boyfriend and sits back up, holding johnny's shoulder for support.

"ten, you can always fuck johnny later. not me because i'm a little tired, but i'll make up for it later!" ten smiles at kun, he cared so much about ten's needs and wants. "you know, i don't like you for your dick but because of your heart?"

kun wasn't sure if he teared up at that because of his emotional frenzy or because he just loved ten so much, but it didn't take him even a second to engulf the shorter in a hug. ten laughs loudly at the sudden contact and kun just buries his face deep into ten's neck.

johnny grins at the scene he witnessed and moved closer to the two and wrapped his arms around the two, bringing both of them closer to him. "i don't need you both to take care of me, just be with me and that's all i ask."

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜


	20. Chapter 20

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MONTHS & MONTHS LATER ,

 

"i cannot believe i survived the last year of university without dying!" ten excitedly squeals with his diploma in his hand, jumping up and down like a little child. "mhm, i didn't expect this whole year to pass by so fast!" sicheng adds on, and everyone agrees.

after the ceremony, the gang met up at a nearby café to sit down to have a talk. jaehyun and johnny told everyone that they had an announcement to make at the end so everyone was anticipating it. 

kun was in charge of calming ten down without embarrassing him in front of the entire café, and everyone empathized with him. "um, okay. i guess me and johnny will just tell you all what we have to tell you all." jaehyun nervously coughs and stands up from his seat, all the eyes on him.

johnny looks at jaehyun in fear, and jaehyun nods his head sideways, and the two speak with just their gazes. the others looked very dazed, everyone but taeyong because he knew exactly what they had to tell.

taeyong was heartbroken when he learned that both his best friends were going to leave him, but he came to terms with it months ago. but he was afraid of what ten and kun's reaction, they were about to learn such a traumatizing decision made by johnny, but taeyong hoped that everything would just go smoothly.

both the tall males stand up, jaehyun appeared confident but johnny hung his head low. sicheng also didn't know anything about the announcements, so he was also pretty lost too. "i'll go first, okay?" jaehyun notices that johnny probably needed some more seconds to gather himself.

"i actually have two announcements—" two? taeyong didn't know what the second announcement was. "um, the first one is that i'm m-moving away," ten smiles at jaehyun and gently laughs. "we'll still visit you—"

"to america."

johnny, kun and ten glanced over at taeyong, their gazes sympathizing and dripping with pity. but what surprised the three was that taeyong didn't look too down or overwhelmed. sicheng just stared at jaehyun, he was told about this and wanted to talk to jaehyun about it.

he also noticed that taeyong didn't look too bothered, did jaehyun tell taeyong beforehand? "um, and the second one is that taeyong and i are no longer together." once again, taeyong didn't look too bothered but the rest of the three had their eyes widened.

"i-i'm— when did this happen?" johnny asked, not too sure to whom the question was directed to, jaehyun or taeyong. "four months after the university began," jaehyun answered anyways, presuming that taeyong didn't want to answer. 

kun didn't like how sicheng didn't share the same emotions like everyone other than the broken couple, sicheng was hiding something from everyone. no one spoke for the next five minutes, they just processed whatever happened and what was told to them.

"johnny," ten urged johnny to go next and johnny took a deep breath. he should've told kun and ten previously but no, he was such a fucking coward. not being to express and share secrets with the two people you love the most, wasn't that the sign of a coward?

but johnny was prepared, kind of, for this day. he practiced a lot before today and had to mentally convince himself of whatever the reactions of his lovers would be. "i-i'm," johnny begins and as soon as he does, he realizes that he couldn't continue further without the guilt stabbing him.

his gaze dropped low, he couldn't face his lovers with such a confident look. he wasn't confident at all and he was just plain guilty. "i'm moving to america too," and he let it out, shutting his eyes as tight as possible.

there was no sound from anyone, but then suddenly johnny heard someone drop their fork. and the last person johnny remembered had a fork in his hand was ten, and johnny could feel tears in his eyes.

"what the actual fuck, johnny." was all johnny heard from ten, and kun didn't even respond verbally yet. johnny curled up his hands into fists but didn't dare to open his eyes, he was too afraid. 

then he heard someone get up from their seat and leave and after hearing sicheng yell, "ten! where are you going?" johnny knew that he fucked up, real bad. but he wasn't going to cry now, he'll wait for kun's reaction too and then cry. plan successfully curated.

"ten is just a little dramatic, johnny. it's okay, we'll talk it out." johnny opens his glassy eyes and looks at kun, and there he sat. with that same smile johnny loves so much and no sign of anger or annoyance. "k-kun,"

"i'll go after ten." sicheng excuses himself from the group, understanding that some people need to talk alone. and after a few minutes of sicheng's departure, taeyong excuses himself to go to the washroom and jaehyun says that he's going to go behind taeyong.

"you can sit down, johnny." kun couldn't be so calm about this, there was something wrong with kun. johnny followed kun anyways, and took a seat opposite to him and just stared at him with his glassy eyes. "ten's a bit dramatic, and you know that—"

"why aren't you acting like him? you should be mad at me!" johnny yells at kun, not too loud but loud enough for kun to flinch. kun tries to grab johnny's hands to try to calm the other down, but johnny refused to let kun touch him and cried.

"i saw the letter from your parents the day you got it, you weren't home so i thought of opening it. thought it was a letter from the school," kun remembers the exact feeling of betrayal and extreme depression he had gone through. "i already cried enough, no more tears left."

the word pathetic just repeated itself in johnny's head, he failed as a lover. "h-how did you f-feel about me then?" johnny couldn't continue to look at kun but he had to, and kun smiled sadly. "thought at first that you didn't love me and ten anymore."

johnny had to resist the urge to hurt himself, to punch himself for making kun doubt his feelings for them. "then, i realized that you had your reasons. so, i waited for the day you would tell us about it. and five months later, you tell us."

johnny didn't what underlying emotion kun spoke with but johnny couldn't look at kun anymore, he couldn't do it so he hung his head low. "but it's okay, johnny. u-um, g-go ahead and make the best of your l-life there." johnny could hear kun cry, he didn't want look.

"just r-remember me and t-ten, okay? d-don't forget us." 

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

sicheng saw how kun composed himself when johnny told everyone that he, too, was moving away. sicheng ran outside the café and just stood there, under the cloudy sky. he saw his kun-ge almost cry, get hurt by one of the people kun trusted the most.

his kun-ge didn't deserve the pain, he did. even after the entire year getting over, taeyong just never properly confessed and sicheng just felt used. if he was going through all this pain, then why was his kun-ge going through pain?

sicheng didn't even know how to feel— it's just like a supernova of emotions occurred in his body. he just wanted to live like a normal boy, but it seems like that wasn't happening. "sicheng! you're here, i was looking for you!" there it goes, the usual routine of taeyong trying to butter him up.

sicheng doesn't turn around to face the older, just folds his arms and prays that taeyong doesn't bother him. "chenggie? are you not talking to me anymore?" the way taeyong just said that, so easily, like love was nothing for him. and he calls himself a scholar of love, huh, as if.

sicheng hears taeyong approaching him, so sicheng takes a few steps in front. "oh, come on. now you're acting like an angry wife!" taeyong couldn't possibly be serious, he was so immature and childish. how does sicheng still love him?

"what did i do—"

that's it.

"what did you do? that's what you ask me? how about you ask me what you didn't do, you scumbag! you think playing with my feelings is the most amusing thing, right? well guess what! i don't find it amusing and in fact, i hate it!"

"for a whole year i've been trying to shove down your throat the fact that i love you! so much that it hurts when you just kiss me and don't say anything after that! am i some replacement for jaehyun? have you even once told me that you love—" 

"i love you." taeyong shuts sicheng up with those three words, and gives sicheng a smile. sicheng widens his eyes at the sudden confession and his heart suddenly starts racing. "y-you, y-you don't mean that, r-right—"

sicheng is shut up once more by taeyong, but this time, it's taeyong's lips that shut sicheng up. and cue those butterflies and fireworks in sicheng's stomach, it happens every goddamn time. they passionately kiss for some time till they pull apart for breathing.

"you're so silly, chenggie. do you think i was hopelessly pining over you for this entire year to use you? why do you think jaehyun broke up with me, huh?" sicheng did ask taeyong that question previously but taeyong never answered. "it's because he knew that i was in love with you."

oh.

"you don't understand my love for you, chenggie, and i do know that i've never verbally told you that because you're you. you aren't jaehyun, so i didn't know how to verbally express my endless love for you."

"i love you so much, sicheng. from the day i first saw you, i knew you were something different. something meant, just for me. you're my everything, actually. and i can do anything for you and for your happiness."

sicheng didn't know when his eyes filled up with tears and his lips curved into the ugliest smile he's ever smiled. they both stood in front of each other at a distance, smiles blooming on both their faces.

taeyong raises both his arms, calling for sicheng to run into his arms, and sicheng lets his tears flow freely. "boyfriends?" taeyong asks with his ugly, but so goddamn charming smile and sicheng just runs into taeyong's arms. his home.

taeyong chuckles, feeling him tear up as well, and wraps his arms around the younger. "no, i don't want to be boyfriends." sicheng mumbles into taeyong's chest, and taeyong freezes for a split second. "i want us to be soulmates."

"i want us to be the brightest stars in the sky, hm? will my romeo allow that?"

"anything for my star, anything for you."

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oofies !! it's over finally !! the ending was disappointing though yikes but ahh ,, i love this story personally because it's pretty special to me.
> 
> and for the "emotion" i was trying to establish through this story is that it is okay to fall in love with someone else even when you're in a relationship with someone else, till you cheat on the other person.
> 
> as you've read, taeyong didn't think of cheating on jaehyun with sicheng. because cheating is wrong in any case. and honestly we need people like jaehyun who handle the whole situation mATURELY ,, but yeah it's pretty obvious as to what i want to express !!
> 
> an epilogue will be up later with more context to johnkunten ( maybe idk ) and yeah ,, that's it !! thank you for reading this shit !! taewin stans out !!

**Author's Note:**

> updates will be slow because i'm a loser, thanks fam.


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